Yes I do want to know how much jewelry costs before I buy it... why is that so bad?

Today Fiance and I went out to look at wedding rings. My engagement ring band is somewhat unusual, and we've looked at stores in the past and not found any good matches. However, this store had an engagement ring that was almost identical to mine, and when the lady checked online she found that it had a matching band. They didn't have it in the store but said they would call on Monday to find out the price. I asked how much the engagement ring band was - and found that it was almost three times what Fiance paid for my band. That band alone actually cost almost as much as what Fiance paid for the whole damn ring including the store. When they told us the price, both of us made a face. Another lady there confidently told me that it was because the price of gold went up. (It has gone up about 10% since he bought the engagement ring. I checked five minutes later.) But I was really wondering what was going on there - if it was because it was a brick and mortar store, or if this was a fancier designer, or what. But I was pretty pissed. I said that that was a lot more than I had been expecting, and the lady who told me gold had gone up (who was not the person helping us) asked what my budget was. I said about $500 or somewhat above that, and she looked genuinely appalled. Seriously people?? I know this shit is not cheap, but I don't want any diamonds or other stones, and I'm looking at white gold, which isn't even pure gold (it's an alloy, usually with silver, to give it that color and make it sturdier.) Fiance's theory was that they price the women's jewelry much higher because women expect to pay more, and that was borne out - when we were given a price on the ring Fiance was looking at, which had at least twice as much gold in it, it was less than half the cost of the one I had been looking at. They also have tungsten carbide rings for the men, which are really cheap (mostly under $100) and plain gold bands - I didn't see a single plain gold band for women in the cases. The store probably has some somewhere but they definitely weren't on display. This is part of why I hate jewelry stores. Mostly I hate this delusion they are encouraging - that the only thing that matters is whether you got exactly the perfect ring that you love, and who cares whether spending that kind of change on a piece of jewelry is a good idea. That price doesn't matter and is a vaguely dirty question to ask, like you're haggling over the price of a child's life. There are no prices anywhere - in fact they don't even know the prices and half the time can't even find the price. She's going to call me on Monday to tell me how much the matching band is, but I already know that it will be four figures. Definitely not willing to do that when I have other options I like, or I could even get it custom made for less. Ridiculous! I'm not going to cheap out on something I'll wear for years, but I also don't see the need to pay tons of money when I have other options I like just as well.... plus, both Fiance and I maaaay have written down the model number when she found that matching ring.. we do think alike sometimes! ;)