virge Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 Did you see those packs of water being sold at a Best Buy store in Houston for as much as $42 per pack? The photos went viral as an example of predatory price-gouging in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. But the company is now apologizing and saying it was all a big misunderstanding. Meanwhile, CNBC doesn’t think that disaster capitalism is such a big deal. There have been over 550 complaints so far about price gouging on everything from food to gasoline. According to the Texas Attorney General, the price gouging has included hotel prices quadrupling, fuel for as much as $10 per gallon, and cases of water being sold for $99. But Best Buy was recently singled out on social media when a tweet showed that some packs were being sold at a Houston location for $29 while other cases of water were $42. People were disgusted, to say the least. “This was a big mistake on the part of a few employees at one store on Friday,” a Best Buy spokesperson told CNBC. “As a company we are focused on helping, not hurting affected people. We’re sorry and it won’t happen again,” the statement continued. “Not as an excuse but as an explanation, we don’t typically sell cases of water. The mistake was made when employees priced a case of water using the single-bottle price for each bottle in the case,” the spokesperson from Best Buy concluded. The penalty for price gouging in Texas is a fine of up to $20,000 per infraction. And if the victim is over the age of 65, the fine is up to $250,000. So while Best Buy contends that it was all an honest mistake, they have a legal responsibility not to price gouge during a disaster. That’s the law in Texas. Article: http://gizmodo.com/best-buy-apologizes-for-selling-42-packs-of-water-whil-1798619358 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BioHazard Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 best example of capitalism Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc71520 Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 4 hours ago, BioHazard said: best example of capitalism Best OR WORST? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luisam Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 On 31/8/2017 at 2:18 AM, BioHazard said: best example of capitalism "Price gouging" of WATER in emergency or social conmotion conditions is NOT captialism, not a "best" or "worst" example of capitalism, this is not a case of high demand and supply. It is the example of the worst kind of criminal SPECULATION, a punishable felony, in any economic system, including capitalism. It's EXTORTION! Capitalism is an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations. It is very regrettable that a presumibly serious nation-wide chain of stores like BEST BUY should spleculate with essential human needs like water, in case of a disaster and I feel that apologizing, excusing and saying they are sorry is not enough! They should be fined applying the maximum penalty FOR EACH PACK OF WATER they sold for a price over the conventional one. And of course, they should give out water FREE for those who really need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc71520 Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 For Economics, which is a Social Science, what happened is just the result of Supply & Demand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flitox Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 this is definitively capitalism, they took a bet on high deman of water & shortage of it. now i'm wondering how many they have sold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
info999 Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 this is an extortion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pc71520 Posted September 2, 2017 Share Posted September 2, 2017 18 hours ago, flitox said: I'm wondering how many they have sold! As much as they could profit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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