Hurricane Harvey: Best Buy apologises for selling $43 cases of water in Texas during tropical storm

'The mistake happened when the store’s employees priced a case of water using the single-bottle price for each bottle in the case,' shop spokesperson says

A leading electronics chain has been accused of "price gouging" after one of its shops in Texas was caught selling cases of bottled water for over $42 (£32) as Hurricane Harvey raged in nearby Houston.

As its near neighbour suffered from severe flooding, which has claimed th lives of at least 30 people and caused thousands to evacuate their homes, the Best Buy in nearby Cypress, around 30 miles away, put the stock on sale.

It offered 24-packs of Dasani water for $42.96 (£33.31), and 12-packs of Smartwater for $29.98 (£23.24). A sign on top of the cases said: "Limited Supply!!"

A picture of the offer went viral after a local journalist who tweeted it.

“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,” Ken Klippenstein wrote above his post.

A spokesperson for the Texas Attorney General’s office told the GritPost.com news website: “Unfortunately, price gouging like this can be common following natural disasters."

They added that they had received 550 complaints through an emergency address set up for consumers, many of which concern price gouging since the hurricane hit.

“We have received complaints from consumers as well as some of our employees and investigators in the area concerning price gouging happening with hotels, grocers, fuel providers and (most frequently) fresh water," they said.

Apologising for the "big mistake", a Best Buy spokesperson told cable news network CNBC, that the company did not typically sell cases of water.

“The mistake happened when the store’s employees priced a case of water using the single-bottle price for each bottle in the case,” they said.

They added that this was not an excuse but an explanation for the error.

Attorney General Ken Paxton told CNBC’s Closing Bell that “there are significant penalties if you price gouge in a crisis like this”.

He added that anyone who is caught doing so can be fined up to $20,000 (£15,400) or $250,000 (£193,400) if the victim is aged over 65.