Man, that's rough. I read a camera repair blog a while back that called those ribbon cables the "Achilles' heel" of a lot of 90s electronic cameras. The plastic just gets brittle. Having it happen with the client there is the worst case scenario, but you did the only thing you could. Being honest about the wait and the cost up front was the right move, even if it felt bad. That two week wait from Germany must have felt like forever with him watching it happen.