Best Buy says $42.96 bottled water near Houston was a big mistake.
A nearly $43 case of water on sale at a Best Buy outside storm-ravaged Houston was a "big mistake,” according to the retailer, even as the incident sparked a social media backlash and shone a spotlight on price gouging in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Best Buy spokesman Jeffrey Shelman apologized in a statement for what he said was an error made by a local employee who added up the cost of each individual bottle of water to come up with the price for the entire case.
"This was a big mistake on the part of a few employees at one store on Friday,” Shelman said.
"We’re sorry and it won’t happen again.”
The office of the Texas State Attorney General said that as of Wednesday morning, it had received 684 complaints about excessive pricing.
Such acts can lead to a $20,000 fine, or a penalty of up to $250,000 if the victim is at least 65 years old.
The state attorney general has so far notified nine alleged offenders that they have violated the law, and what fines they could face if they don’t stop the gouging.
"Price gouging is not only reprehensible, it’s illegal.’’ Texas Gov.
“if you’re a business, you could be put out of business.”