Yes - in no uncertain terms they told me where I could go. They said there comes a point in the life of a car when maintenance is the responsibility of the owner (hello - this was a catastrophic failure of a major component at 71k miles, not a maintenance issue), and that they couldn't comment on what they do in the US, but they don't do it here. I thought their response was a joke to be honest.
So, I have my car back, but I no longer have confidence in it coping in wet weather, and sadly after 33 years of continuous Audi ownership I will probably be making this my last one.
In the meantime I want to write to the ombudsman and head of Audi in Germany - what have I got to lose apart from a few minutes of my time?