A TARGET store in the cyclone-ravaged town of Bowen has been accused of gouging customers in the wake of Debbie.
Customer Natalie Maher posted on Facebook an image she took inside the Bowen store of a 24-pack of Cool Ridge bottled water being sold for $72.
Ms Maher wrote that she thought the signage must have been a mistake but was told by a store employee that it was correctly marked.
“Talk about price gaugeing [sic] us while we are in need. Disgusting mongrels,” she wrote. “I had only just left the disaster recovery people with lifeline there who gave me 12 bottles of water to bring home so we have clean drinking water and Target are [sic] pulling this stunt.
“I will refuse to shop at Target from now on.”
The same Cool Ridge 24-pack is sold on office supplies website Staples for $36.99. A 12-pack of Mount Franklin bottled water (a brand similar in pricing to Cool Ridge) is for sale on the Coles for $6.40, or $12.80 for two 12-packs. Coles is owned by the same parent company as Target, Wesfarmers.
But a Target spokeswoman said the $72 sign was a “misunderstanding” at the Bowen store and no 24 cases were sold for that price.
“It was an unfortunate misunderstanding at store level. A worker thought they were helping the community by selling the water by the slab,” she said.
“But we don’t sell water by the slab, only individually.”
The spokeswoman said the bottles of water are usually $3 each, but had been reduced to $1 a bottle to help the Bowen community.
The spokeswoman said Target had apologised for the misunderstanding.
Online Source: The News
