A Best Buy In Texas Took In Hurricane Harvey Refugees And Sheltered Them From The Storm - Just Kidding, They Price Gouged Them With $43 Cases Of Water

Business Insider – Social media lit up on Tuesday after a reporter posted a picture on Twitter that showed a Best Buy in Texas charging $42 for a case of Dasani water.

The picture also showed the price for a case of Smartwater at $29, with a sign noting there was a “limited supply.”

Subsequent commenters accused the store, in the Houston suburb of Cypress, of price gouging. A 24-pack of water like that usually costs between $15 and $25 — even online.

Story originally reported by @KenKlippenstein

In a statement, a Best Buy representative told Business Insider the pricing was “a big mistake.” The price was seen only on Friday and was because an employee had mistakenly priced the entire case of water by multiplying the price of a single bottle.

Well now we know why Best Buy reported second-quarter earnings and sales on Tuesday that topped analysts’ expectations.  You thought maybe it was from high-margin electronics and appliances and shifting investments towards its digital platform?

Nope – it was price gouging victims of one of our country’s worst natural disasters in history!

Selling $43 cases of water to desperately thirsty people who were flooded out of their homes and lost everything.

Those margins though >>>>

In your face Amazon!!

You thought the business world was cutthroat and that companies would do anything to turn a profit.  Best Buy just said hold my beer – you ain’t seen nothing yet.  Take your human decency and shove it up your asshole, we’ve got a bottom line to look after.  I think this is what they’re always talking about on Shark Tank.

I know, I know.  It was just one store.  This isn’t like, Best Buy corporate headquarters’ strategy.  And they came out with that hugely apologetic statement where they said it was a “big mistake.”  A big mistake!  Like mislabeling the gum, or damaging a TV during shipping, or illegally up-charging dehydrated hurricane victims in their biggest time of need.  Shit happens.

UPDATE:  Best Buy’s explanation, for fairness.