flyblue - thanks, wasn't entirely sure whether I'd posted in the right place or not.
bubbette - Four days after the incident I'm still pretty miffed by it all, so may well take up your suggestion. Problem is, I'm not sure who to take it up with; CAA (as the flight arrived in LHR and I'm a UK resident), or the Brazilian authorities (Varig being the flag carrier)? If it's the latter, does anyone have contact details to hand?
Thanks in advance, sorry to be a pain...