I phoned NTL today, as Mrs Gaz & I have decided to finally get digital TV, rather than the analogue service, which we have currently.
I phoned the default 0800 number, gave my phone no. & chose 'billing' - answered on the first ring, very nice chap called William told me no problem, to expect a wait of a week to ten days & he would transfer me to sales. Michael in sales took over the call, went through the options to make sure I was getting the package I wanted, didn't know about the bypass, but put it in the notes that one was required - and booked installation for this Friday afternoon.
All in all, minimal waiting, polite helpful people & a result within a timescale convenient to me, as I am off work, this week.
Course the fitting still has to go according to plan, and I know this was 'just' people doing their jobs properly, but it was nice to see it can be done.