He bought luxury jewelry for a pittance. Cartier forgot to add three zeros

It is said that Rogelio Villarreal did not even know about the French jeweler Cartier when his advertisement appeared on Instagram last December. He clicked on it and looked at pages with the most luxurious items – jewelry, watches or handbags. Each of them cost several thousand dollars.

However, Villarreal, who lives in Mexico, noticed a pair of earrings whose price was on a completely different level, costing only 237 Mexican pesos (about 13 dollars or 300 CZK). “I swear I broke out in a cold sweat,” he commented in retrospect of the moment. Why did 18k rose gold diamond studded earrings from a world renowned jewelry company cost so little? The seller made a mistake and forgot to write three zeros. Correctly, the earrings should have cost 237,000 pesos, i.e. over 300,000 crowns.

The lucky buyer ordered two pairs at once. “But that’s when the months-long struggle began,” Villarreal told The New York Times. The company representatives told him a few days after the purchase that the earrings he ordered were not at the right price and therefore wanted to cancel the purchase. “They say they’re going to give me a present for the inconvenience,” he said. As compensation, the company then offered a “gesture from the house of Cartier” – a bottle of Cartier Cuvée champagne and a “Cartier leather item”.

He decided to refuse the gifts and sue himself. On the company’s website, he found terms of sale stating that any dispute could be submitted to the Office of the Federal Attorney for Consumer Protection for conciliation.

He did that too. He filed a complaint with the Federal Office of Consumer Protection in Matamoros. Lawyers cited by the New York Times give him a strong chance of success. The law in the Latin American country is set to strongly protect the consumer. In addition, the case became popular in the local media, and even leading Mexican politicians offered to broker a deal with Cartier.

Even though the proceedings will take place only in the next few days, the shipment with the earrings came to Villarreal already last week. “I’m excited,” he wrote on the X social network, “especially for mom.” Those earrings are for her.”