Cartier, renowned for its luxury jewelry, inadvertently listed gold-and-diamond earrings on its website for 237 pesos ($14) instead of the correct price of 237,000 pesos ($14,000).
Rogelio Villarreal stumbled upon this error and ordered two sets. Despite months of negotiation and offers of consolation prizes from Cartier, Villarreal stood firm, backed by Mexican officials who insisted on honoring the advertised price.
After much anticipation, Villarreal received the earrings at the price he had ordered them. However, he soon grew weary of the public attention the incident garnered, expressing his desire for the focus to shift away from the earrings.
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The case sparked widespread debate online, with some criticizing Villarreal for exploiting Cartier’s mistake, while others argued that he should return the earrings or pay taxes on them.
Despite differing opinions, the incident highlighted ethical considerations in online commerce, especially amidst Mexico’s charged political climate leading up to the presidential elections on June 2.
Villarreal,a resident of Mexico faced months of struggle to compel Cartier to fulfill his order, alleging that the company even offered him a bottle of champagne as compensation.
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Despite repeated requests for comment, Cartier remained silent on the matter.
Villarreal shared on his social media accounts that he managed to purchase two sets of earrings valued at $14,000 each for a total of only about $28.
“I have the worst luck in the world and I’ve never made any money, and what I have is because I bought it,” he wrote.
Villarreal mentioned that he gifted one of the sets to his mother.
Villarreal further stated, “It feels great and it’s cool not to be the underdog for once in my life.”
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Jesús Montaño, spokesperson for Mexico’s consumer protection agency, Profeco, corroborated Villarreal’s account of his ordeal.
“He filed a complaint in December,” Montaño said. “There is a conciliation hearing scheduled for May 3, but the consumer already received his purchase.”
Asked about the ethics of it all, Montaño said companies “have to respect the published price.” If there’s a mistake, “it’s not the consumer’s fault.”
