A 99.9% discount has a nice ring to it, no?
Dripping in diamonds is a luxury often enjoyed by the mega-rich. But thanks to a glitch on Cartier’s website, one bargain-hunting shopper struck gold — literally.
“I took advantage of the opportunity and even ordered two pairs,” bragged Rogelio Villarreal, from Mexico, on X of the $14,000 (237,000 pesos) gold-diamond earrings he snagged on the designer label’s site for a cool $14 per pair.
“Call me starving,” the fortunate fella added, “but I doubt that you would have missed the opportunity.”
Villarreal’s lucky strike was a springtime surprise this month, prompting him to share his big break with stunned social media spectators worldwide.
However, a faction of finger-waggers scolded him for taking advantage of an obvious malfunction.
“Would you agree if tomorrow, due to a silly mistake, you lost half a million pesos? The problem is that you don’t deserve them,” spat a virtual vigilante.
Equally unamused detractors warned Villarreal that Cartier would likely come after him.
“It is easy for the brand’s lawyers to demonstrate that you acted in bad faith and with treachery — add to that everything you are [tweeting], it reinforces the bad faith,” said the X user. “You [won’t] even be left without the bottle of liquor they offer you [after] paying the costs of the legal process.”
But a seeming unshakable Villarreal continued boasting over his lucky break for days, posting a series of screenshots of alleged communications between himself and the jewelers after the flubbed transaction was completed.
Villarreal came out victorious in the end.
“War is over. Cartier is delivering [the earrings],” he assured X fans, who’d been anxiously watching his timelines for updates during the debacle.
The charmed customer went on to share a snapshot of his $28 in fine frippery once the pairs of earrings arrived in the mail.
Taunting his haters, Villarreal even flexed the gems on his little finger.
“They look better as a ring,” he teased.
And while most folks today are thankful to be living in the digital age, owing to the many technological advantages of the time, computers aren’t necessarily a benefit to everyone.
Patricia, a 101-year-old frequent flyer, is constantly hassled when boarding flights with American Airlines due to an online booking error that repeatedly documents the centenarian as an infant.
And as artificial intelligence continues encroaching on our everyday lives — giving specialized robots humanlike features, personas and functions — a showstopper Italian model named Ines Trocchia, 29, says people accuse her of being a digitized diva.
“It’s extremely frustrating that people think I’m an AI model,” said Trocchia. “It’s complete insanity to me.”
