Hurricane Harvey: Best Buy Busted Trying To Sell $42 Water Bottle Cases Amid Natural Disaster

HOUSTON, TX — Best Buy officials in Houston have apologized after being accused of price gouging for trying to sell cases of bottled water for more than $42.

Journalist Ken Klippenstein, from Houston, tweeted a picture of the champagne-priced water that was on display at a Best Buy store in in Cypress, Texas, about 30 miles for storm-ravaged Houston. He also posted it on Instagram, and soon the photo and the accusations became widely shared. The photo shows 24-packs of Dasani water priced at $42.96, about $15 more than usual, and 12-packs of Smartwater being sold for $29.98, nearly double the usual price of about $15.

The overpricing, based on the explanation the company provided in a news release, appears to have been an innocent mistake rather than a sleazy scam.

Best Buy employees at the Cypress store did not know the prices the store typically charges for the water, the release said, so they came up with the prices causing the company so much angst by multiplying the cost of one bottle by the number of bottles in a case.

Also See: Harvey Could Be One Of The Most Expensive Storms In US History

Officials added they were "...deeply sorry that we gave anyone even the momentary impression that we were trying to take advantage of the situation."

As it is in some 30 other states, price gouging on essential items during times of disaster is illegal, with fines of up to $250,000 assessed to violators. The Texas attorney general previously said in a press release his office has received 550 complaints (and counting) of price gouging since the onset of Hurricane Harvey.

One resident sharing the photos wrote on Twitter: "One Houston resident sent me a pic of water he saw being sold for $42 at a nearby Best Buy. They were kind enough to offer $29 bottles too."

To report cases of possible price gouging, call the state attorney general's office at 1-800-252-8011 or file a complaint online by clicking here.

>>> Houston flooding amid historic rainfall levels fueled by Tropical Storm Harvey. Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images News/Getty Images