Man bags gold and diamond earrings from Cartier for just $13 thanks to internet mistake

A shopper secured the deal of a lifetime when a typo on Cartier's website priced a pair of gold-and-diamond earrings at just $13.

Rogelio Villarreal, 27, from Mexico, came across the luxury jewelry brand when an Instagram ad popped up while he was scrolling the app.

The surgery resident from the northern state of Tamaulipa said could not believe the prices of the items, ranging from necklaces to watches to handbags, each costing thousands of dollars.

But Villarreal noticed 18-carat studded rose-gold cuffs lined with diamonds priced at just 237 Mexican pesos, or about $13 - well below the average price of the brand's goods. 

'I was amazed to see how much the necklaces cost and so on and I said: 'Someday,' until I saw the earrings,' Villarreal wrote in a post on X. 'I swear I broke out in a cold sweat.'

Rogelio Villarreal (pictured), 27, from Mexico secured the deal of a lifetime when a typo on Cartier's website priced a pair of gold-and-diamond earrings at just $13

Villarreal had not heard of Cartier until the ad popped up on his Instagram feed

He bought two pairs of earrings before the price was adjusted to its original value of 237,000 pesos per pair, which is more than $13,000

He bought two pairs of earrings before the price was adjusted to its original value of 237,000 pesos per pair, which is more than $13,000. This means that website left out the zeros by mistake.

What Villarreal didn't expect was a month-long battle with Cartier that gained major media attention.

Cartier initially tried cancelling the order multiple times within the week he purchased the earrings, claiming they were unavailable.

They also offered to send him a bottle of Cartier Cuvée champagne and a leather accessory as an apology for the inconvenience the debacle has caused him, per an email sent to Villarreal.

Instead of accepting the present in defeat, Villarreal raised the case with Mexico's federal consumer protection agency. 

He used a contact form on Cartier's website to cite a federal consumer protection law in Mexico that states that a goods supplier can be taken to court 'by not respecting the terms and conditions under which' a product or service is purchased, The New York Times reported.

The terms and conditions for sales on the Cartier website stated that any dispute could be brought to the Office of the Federal Prosecutor for the Consumer for 'conciliation.' Villarreal

In the end, Cartier sent the earrings to Villarreal.

He posted the picture of two small wrapped gift boxes from Cartier with the brand's signature stamp included.

Cartier initially tried cancelling Villarreal's order multiple times within the week he purchased the earrings, claiming they were unavailable.

Cartier also offered to send him a bottle of Cartier Cuvée champagne and a leather accessory as an apology for the inconvenience the debacle has caused him, per an email sent to Villarreal

Mexico Senator Lilly Téllez weighed in on the situation, expressing her disagreement with the retailer's decision in a post on X.

'Kids: What the buyer of the Cartier earrings did is not correct,' the post read.

'It's wrong to be opportunistic and take advantage of a mistake at the expense of someone else, and abuse the law, even if it's in your favor, and outwit a business. It is more important to be honorable than to have a pair of Cartier earrings.' 

Villarreal told the New York Times that he plans on gifting the earrings to a very special person

'I'm excited,' he said, 'especially for my mom. Those earrings are for her.'