Amid numerous reports from across flooded south Texas about price gouging, Richfield-based Best Buy found itself in the crosshairs when a picture showing one of its stores in suburban Houston selling a case of water for $42 went viral on Tuesday.
"This was a big mistake on the part of a few employees at one store on Friday," said Best Buy spokesman Jeff Shelman in a statement. "As a company we are focused on helping, not hurting affected people. We're sorry and it won't happen again."
He added that Best Buy usually only sells individual bottles of water. The mistake was made when, given heightened demand for full cases before the storm, employees priced a case of water using the single-bottle price of each bottle ($1.79) for the 24 bottles in the case.
That store is now temporarily closed, as are about 30 other Best Buy stores in southern Texas since Harvey hit.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has told media outlets that his office has received hundreds of complaints of price gouging right before and since Harvey hit Houston and the surrounding area.
Kavita Kumar • 612-673-4113
