A pricing error for a pair of gold and diamond earrings on Cartier’s website proved to be both an expensive error for the upscale jewelry manufacturer and a pleasant surprise for a client. Mexico native Rogelio Villarreal stumbled upon the surprisingly affordable pair of earrings while browsing Cartier’s website. In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter) on April 20, he stated, “I was amazed to see how much the necklaces cost and so on and I said: ‘Someday,’ until I saw the earrings.”
According to CBS News, the earrings, in this case, were a pair of 18-karat rose gold stud hoops embedded with 142 brilliant-cut diamonds that were retailing on the site for $13.85. This was before the luxury brand changed the price to $14,000.
Mr Villarreal had snagged the deal and bought two pairs. “I swear I broke out in a cold sweat,” he wrote on X. He relished in the satisfaction of scoring the designer pieces at a low price. However, his happiness was short-lived as Cartier attempted to cancel his order and offered him a consolation prize instead of the jewellery. But Mr Villarreal did not budge.
According to CBS News, the man raised the issue with Mexico’s federal consumer protection agency, following which Cartier was summoned. After months of back and forth, Mr Villarreal said that the luxury brand eventually capitulated and fulfilled his order for two pairs of earrings – one for himself and another for his mother.
On April 26, Mr Villarreal shared a photo on X of his neatly wrapped boxes, indicating that the earrings had arrived. On Instagram, he also posted a photo of himself wearing the jewellery.
✨Once upon a December✨ pic.twitter.com/3wMvT7AjLw
— dre pute (@LordeDandy) April 26, 2024
When asked why he was so determined to hold Cartier accountable over a pricing error, the man told the outlet that the company’s initial response rubbed him the wrong way. “At first they said two things when I contacted them after they cancelled my order. One, they said the earrings were mispriced by accident. Then they said they couldn’t fulfil the order because the earrings were out of stock. Their reasoning was difficult to understand,” he said.
In the meantime, there were conflicting responses to Mr. Villarreal’s posts on social media. While some applauded his victory over the luxury brand, others condemned him for profiting from what they believed to be a sincere error on the part of the business. Some users even said that he ought to pay taxes on the earrings or return them.
Senator Lilly Tellez from Mexico also offered her opinion, writing on X that she didn’t think Mr. Villarreal should have been allowed to keep the earrings just because a store had made an error.
Mr Villarreal, on the other hand, stated that he was “very happy” when the earrings arrived. “I was very happy when the earrings arrived, but the reality is they don’t just represent a purchase,” he said. “I was familiar with my rights as a consumer, but not everyone is. So this case helps make Mexican people aware of their basic rights, including those protected by consumer law,” he added.
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