Best Buy Apologizes For Selling Expensive Water In Hurricane Harvey

(RTTNews) - Best Buy has apologized after photos posted online showed cases of bottled water priced at $42-plus each at a store in Houston area that was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey. The electronics retailer said the pricing was the result of an employee error in a single store.

The photo, which was widely shared on Instagram and Twitter, showed 24-packs of bottled water marked for sale for $42.96, following which the company was accused of price gouging amid the flooding and destruction.

The company said in a statement, "..this was clearly a mistake in a single store. We feel terrible about this because, as a company we are focused on helping, not hurting people affected by this terrible event."

According to the company, the mistake was made when employees priced a case of water by multiplying the cost of one bottle by the number of bottles in a case.

Best Buy noted that the company does not usually sell cases of water and that it does not have pricing for it in its computer system.

"We are all deeply sorry that we gave anyone even the momentary impression that we were trying to take advantage of the situation," it said.

The catastrophic downpours and flooding from Harvey have cost at least 31 lives, forced thousands from their homes in Texas and caused extensive destruction.