Another Reason To Always Pay In Cash

So I'm up in Maine this weekend, doing a little Christmas shopping for the wife. I've done my price shopping online and down in Boston, so now I'm checking prices in Maine. I figure, hey, the wife and I have been together for a while now, so far she's decided to stick with me, so why not upgrade her engagement ring, add a little more bling. Since I'm fresh out of knock out gas, and can't get the actual ring off her finger, I figure I'll buy diamond stud earrings, give those to her and then she can pick out the new setting after Christmas.

So I find exactly what I'm looking for for the right price up in Bangor. Good times, right? Well... I pay, using my only credit card (which has next to no balance on it), do some more shopping (again using the same card, but only for small purchases) and head home satisfied that I'm a great husband.

When I get home, the wife heads out shopping. About an hour later I get a call, and Sarah and I have the following conversation:
her: "so umm did you go shopping for me this morning?"
me: "sure did"
her: "ok, cuz the credit card company just called me to verify a purchase made on the card (its a joint card)"
me: "you've got to be kidding me"
her: "nope, they called and asked if I recently spent $xx at Xxx Jewelers, to which I said no, but my husband was just out shopping for me, so thanks for ruining my Christmas surprise."

As you can imagine, this really pissed us both off. I make a purchase and they call her, not me? They have both our cell numbers, it's just that the idiot at Citi Card didn't look carefully enough. So the wife basically found out what I got her for Christmas six days early.

The good news, since the surprise was blown, I showed her the earrings, we returned them and just picked out a new setting etc, so it cuts out a step. The bad news, it's no longer a surprise. Although it was really funny to hear Sarah rip into the Citi people while we were paying for the new ring, asking them (in the most sarcastic voice possible) if it was ok if was made a purchase. Good stuff...