Cartier's website had a typo that mistakenly priced a pair of gold-and-diamond earrings, leading to a costly error for the luxury jewelry retailer.
A consumer in Mexico stumbled upon the incorrectly priced earrings while casually browsing Instagram. The jewelry, usually priced at 237,000 pesos (over $13,000), was listed for sale at 237 pesos (about $13), as reported by the New York Times. It seems that Cartier accidentally omitted three zeros in the price.
When Rogelio Villarreal, a Mexican doctor, saw the incredibly low price, he was taken aback. He shared in a post that he broke out in a cold sweat upon realizing the error.
After attempting to purchase the earrings at the mistakenly low price, Villarreal found himself in a lengthy dispute with the luxury retailer, a situation that even garnered attention from public figures.
Last week, Cartier finally agreed to abide by the ruling of the consumer agency. "The war is over. Cartier is complying," Villarreal announced on April 22.
Despite CBS MoneyWatch's attempt to reach out, Cartier remained silent on the matter. The Mexican federal consumer protection agency also did not provide any comments.
Villarreal shared a photo of two small boxes wrapped with Cartier's signature wax seal, confirming the delivery of the earrings. However, not everyone was pleased with the outcome.
Mexican Senator Lilly Téllez expressed her opinion, stating in a tweet that Villarreal should not have been allowed to keep the earrings just because of a retailer's mistake. The senator emphasized the importance of integrity over material possessions, stating that it is unethical to take advantage of someone else's error for personal gain.
