i would say they are talking shit as you say, theres only 2 cables, up and down, left and right. the ib5 cables are auto adjusting kinda, you hold it in third and pull the orange button this releases the rod, it self adjusts then you push the orange button back in which locks the rod in position.

If he's so adament it's that tell him to replace it just as long as it deffo fixes the fault on the understanding you aren't paying for anything else.