Man ends up paying just $14 for $14,000 Cartier earrings after brand website made a major blunder
Getting a 99% discount from a luxury jeweler like Cartier is something that people can only dream of. However, this dream has come true for at least one person in the world. Earlier this year, Mexican Rogelio Villarreal bagged two Cartier earrings for a miraculous total of $28. It wasn't a gift or a discount that made Villarreal lucky, but a pricing error from the brand. As per USA Today, Cartier seemingly forgot to add zeroes to the price of the earrings and Villarreal didn't miss the opportunity.
A once in a lifetime deal
In a post on X, Villarreal shared the story of how he got the earrings so cheap. He wrote that one day scrolling on the internet while using the bathroom he came across Cartier's website.
There he noticed that 18-carat rose-gold Clash de Cartier earrings were on sale for just 237 Mexican Pesos or $13.91. Villarreal couldn't believe his eyes. “I broke out in a cold sweat,” he wrote on his account on X.
As per USA Today, Cartier seemingly made a mistake and listed the earrings for 237 Pesos instead of 237,000 pesos, which was $14,000. It didn't matter to Villarreal as he was getting a deal of a lifetime. He quickly ordered two pairs of earrings paying about $28. However, Cartier wasn't letting the earrings go that easy.
A Pricing Mistake Gone Too Far
In another post, Villarreal said that he later noticed the price of the earrings was corrected on Cartier's website to 237,000 Pesos, or about $13,890.93. Villarreal then shared that a week later, Cartier also tried to get him to cancel his order by claiming the items were no longer available. However, Villarreal decided not to cancel the order, after which the jeweler's representatives began calling him, the X post explained.
He explained that the staff told him the earrings he "ordered were not at the correct price" so they "wanted to cancel the purchase." As a remedy, they offered him a gift, which turned out to be a complimentary bottle of Cartier Cuvée champagne and a leather Cartier item. This was confirmed by a screenshot of the email shared on X by Villarreal.
Este fue el oficio prehecho que me hicieron, y con esto solitos se echaron de cabeza porque me dieron las pistas que me faltaban pic.twitter.com/DPqvFFp1k4
— Dre Pute (@LordeDandy) April 20, 2024
A David vs Goliath Battle
Villarreal rejected Cartier's gifts and went on to fight for the earrings. He cited a federal consumer protection law which was mentioned in the company's contact form. The law states that a goods supplier can be taken to court if it fails to respect the terms and conditions under which a product is bought. Villarreal then filed a complaint with the Matamoros branch of the federal consumer protection agency which summoned Cartier for arbitration.
Jorge López Zozaya, a corporate lawyer in Mexico City, told the New York Times that the agency could impose fines or penalties on Cartier if it found out that the company was at fault. In Villarreal's case, nobody had to go to court or get lawyers as Cartier bowed out of the battle and agreed to ship the earrings.
"War is over," Villarreal wrote in an X post. "Cartier is delivering," he added. The earrings finally arrived on April 26, and Villarreal shared a nice picture of the boxes on X.
His story went viral and grabbed widespread media attention. While some on social media cheered him on, some criticized him for taking advantage of an honest mistake.
