The media mogul, who is one of the world's richest women, told the US TV programme "Entertainment Tonight" that a shop assistant in Zurich refused to show her a handbag because it was "too expensive" for her.
Forbes magazine estimates that Winfrey earned $77 million in the year ending in June.
A spokeswoman for the Swiss tourism office, Daniela Baer, told The Associated Press on Friday "we are very sorry for what happened to her".
The tourism office also posted an apology on Twitter, saying "this person acted terribly wrong".
Winfrey told fellow US talk show host Larry King on internet channel ora.tv: "I'm in a store, a name-brand store. I'm by myself, absolutely nobody else with me. And I say to the woman, 'I would like to see that bag on the shelf'.
"And she says, 'No, that one's too expensive. I'll show you this one'," said Winfrey.
Trudie Goetz, head of the Swiss luxury chain Trois Pommes, denied her saleswoman had ever sought to stop Winfrey buying the bag.
"Everyone wants to sell a crocodile bag," Goetz told AFP. "It's a misunderstanding," she said, adding that the saleswoman always put the customer first and tried to be "too kind". » | Agencies | Friday, August 09, 2013
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