Back in December, Rogelio Villarreal had a once in a lifetime experience. He bought $14,000 Cartier Earrings for $14. How?

While scrolling through Instagram, Villarreal stumbled upon an ad for luxury brand Cartier. He recalls going on the website to check out a cologne— and noticing a major company error. Cartier was selling its rose-gold and diamond Clash earrings for 237 pesos (around $14 USD) instead of their true price: 237,000 pesos, or $13,980 USD. Villarreal’s reaction? “I broke out in a cold sweat.”

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The Mexican man bought two pairs of earrings for $28 USD, and was left with only $2 in his bank account. “I doubt anyone else would have chosen not to take advantage of the opportunity,” he explains.

How did Cartier react to his purchase? As the man wrote on X, he fought tooth-and-nail for the brand to honor his $28 order confirmation. Yesterday, he announced that Cartier finally accepted his order after four months— and it seems like a Mexican law had a lot to do with it.

A man wrote about his Cartier debacle on X, saying that the brand tried to cancel his $28 order

While documenting his Cartier saga on X, Villarreal explained that he bought the two pairs of earrings for his mother. “Obviously the earrings aren’t for me,” he wrote. “They are for my mother who paid for my degree and I still owe her.” While he told his followers he was not planning on selling the earrings for this reason, many still replied: “You have the right to sell them, too.”

In another post, the man wrote that he always felt like “one of the unluckiest people in the world” and that he has “never won anything.” He said it was nice not to feel unlucky “for once in his life.”

But the situation wasn’t so simple. Villarreal described how he documented his purchase with screen recordings to show Cartier’s error and assure they would honor the earrings’ price. He also kept the online receipt. However, the man says that Cartier tried to dispute his purchase— but he had read the brand’s terms and conditions, and knew his rights.

The brand allegedly called Villarreal on several occasions to try to cancel the purchase. He says Cartier eventually sent him a contract saying that they would send him a bottle of champagne and a passport holder if he would forget about the earrings. Behold:

Villarreal refused their apology gift— and refused to forget about his two pairs of $14 diamond earrings. Instead, he insisted Cartier honor his purchase for several months, and also told his followers to pray for him with velitas:

Yesterday, Villarreal announced that Cartier finally accepted his order and would send him the earrings. “War is over. Cartier has agreed,” he stated. He also wrote directly to users expressing worry about the Cartier employee who uploaded the earrings for the wrong price. “I don’t know the employee nor their status. If you want to know, ask the brand, not me, I didn’t employ them.”

Interestingly enough, Villarreal likely won the case due to a Mexican law that requires businesses to honor price mistakes.

As per El País, Mexico’s law PROFECO protects consumers against abuse and fraud, such as enforcing businesses to sell their products at their listed prices. If they do not, customers can file a complaint or accusation, sending proof that they bought a product at list price but did not receive it. Consumers can allege that the brand did not follow through with government regulations— and possibly win their case.

In light of the $14 earrings rocking the world, one X user wrote about how PROFECO has helped Mexican consumers in the past. They described how a store in Durango was forced to sell a television for $0.19 USD due to a pricing mistake. And yes, PROFECO intervened, and the customer won the case, too:

Sonora Senator Lilly Téllez denounced Villarreal’s actions towards Cartier on X, saying his big win is “not ethical.” However, as one user replied: “The law protects consumers… It looks like Cartier will honor that.”

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