When do you tell the homeowner to just rip it out? Had a nightmare job yesterday

Did a routine sweep on a 3-story colonial in Albany yesterday and found the clay liner was cracked so bad you could see daylight through it. I was like 30 minutes in with the camera and knew this thing needed a full reline, not just a brush job. The homeowner was standing there asking if a quick patch job would hold til spring, and honestly I told him yeah it might, but then I found a second crack near the smoke chamber plus some missing mortar joints. I went ahead and did the basic cleaning to get the chimney safe for now, but I charged him $150 for the camera time and told him to get a structural guy out this week. Part of me feels like I should've pushed harder for the immediate tear-out, but the other side says I'm not the inspector so why should I be the bad guy. Has anyone else dealt with a homeowner who wants to gamble on a busted flue just to save a few bucks this season?

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