Ringing on the telephone

I was sitting here, peacefully minding my own business, listening to the radio when my phone rang.

Being a sociable type of person, I answered it. What did I get in response to my "Hello"

... silence.

That's when I knew it was a cold caller. Now I have nothing against cold callers per se, it's a job and someone has to do it, but I do object to being made to wait (even for one second) when someone has chosen to call me out of the blue.

Someone recently explained the mechanics of it - the caller has dialled several numbers and has to cancel all the rest when the first one answers. That cancellation obviously takes a little time - and this is what annoys me. If someone chooses to call me (and, yes, I understand that the actual caller doesn't have any choice about the methods used or who to call) I want to be the only person they are trying to call at that time.

Now I have to find the place where I can register not to receive such calls.