This story below shows how vigilant our industry must be n times of crisis. Whether an error or not the perception created is a terrible one for our industry and potentially other retailers. Our stores operate in communities and we should be offering utmost support to those communities on whom we rely for our business every day of the week, not seeking to be profiteering while thousands of others are volunteering.
Hopefully a lesson will be learnt.
Jeff Rogut
AACS CEO
Service station in bushfire-ravaged town is blasted for DOUBLING the price of bottled water
A service station in bushfire area is selling 24-pack of water for double its price
Australia is teetering on the brink of a humanitarian disaster due to bushfires
Emergency supplies are being delivered to communities cut-off as a result
KELSEY WILKIE
2 January 2020
DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
A service station in an area being ravaged by bushfires has been slammed for doubling the price of bottled water during the disaster.
A disgusted shopper snapped a picture of the price tag showing a 24-pack of Mount Franklin water was being sold for an eye-watering $48 at Termeil BP, on the Princes Highway.
The image has sparked outrage as Australia is teetering on the edge of a humanitarian crisis.
The owner of the store told Daily Mail Australia the sign was a mistake and the bottles had simply been mislabelled.
He said the sign was supposed to read two packs for $48 but an employee forgot to write the small but important detail.
Residents in areas being destroyed by bushfires claim other businesses have been trying to taker advantage of people in need too.
One woman claimed a store in Lake Conjola had doubled the price on all their products, selling a loaf of bread for $9.
Desperate locals and tourists have been clearing supermarket shelves as they prepare for conditions to worsen.
Hundreds of fires are still burning out of control across the country, destroying millions of hectares, killing 18 and leaving at least 1,200 homes destroyed, with catastrophic 46C weather conditions forecast for Saturday.
Water supplies in both states have been contaminated in some areas, while it is simply running out all together in others.
A Navy ship that delivered emergency supplies to Haiti following the 2010 earthquake has left Sydney and is expected to reach the waters off the fire-stricken town of Mallacoota, Victoria on Thursday.
HMAS Choules will provide relief to 4,000 people who remain stranded in the seaside town after it was devastated by bushfires.
Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp said evacuating people onto the ship is ‘an option that we’re seriously considering’. The ship can carry up to 1,000 at a time.
Since Monday, eight have been killed and four are missing feared dead in the fires in NSW and Victoria.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted BP Australia for comment.
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