Houston Flooding News: Best Buy Accused Of Selling $42 Water in Hurricane Harvey Aftermath
A Best Buy in Houston, Texas, has been accused of price gouging after a photo of the price of their water went viral online in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Journalist Ken Klippenstein posted a photo showing the price of a case of water at Best Buy at $42.96. This is a steep price, especially for a commodity such as bottled water. The photo quickly spread on social media and gained notoriety for price gouging.
Now, Best Buy has issued a statement to CNBC in an effort to clear up the supposed misunderstanding.
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"This was a big mistake on the part of a few employees at one store on Friday," a spokesman for the company said via email. "As a company we are focused on helping, not hurting affected people. We're sorry and it won't happen again. Not as an excuse but as an explanation, we don't typically sell cases of water. The mistake was made when employees priced a case of water using the single-bottle price for each bottle in the case."
The company was not the only one who has been accused of price gouging in Texas. Many citizens from the Lone Star State have reported many cases of extreme price hikes after Hurricane Harvey hit. A spokeswoman for Attorney General Ken Paxton revealed to The Hill that the office has gotten more than "600 complaints" in relation to Hurricane Harvey. These complaints include price gouging, scams and false charities.
Most of the complaints are apparently against gas stations raising prices from $3.50 to $20 a gallon. Paxton has said that he and his office are committed to resolving these issues and fining those who are unethically taking advantage of the tragedy.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Friday, Aug. 25. According to The New York Times, the tropical storm has already claimed the lives of at least 30 residents. The Houston Police Department is carrying out rescue operations.
Stay tuned for the latest news and updates.
