vw golf self adjusting clutch cable! should be locked or not

[ih]

my vw golf mk3 1996 - the clutch cable broke and mrs took it to the garage who put in a the cable. After 6 weeks the clutch pedal went down and she called AA and the petrol man said the lock on the cable was left on and this should not be the case- he unlocks it and she can put the car in gears apart from 1st and reverse- the petrol man said drive around and with self adjusting this will be ok - he was right within a day all was ok however today the pedal went down and she couldnot put in gears and she had burning smell and the patrolman was summoned and confirmed the clutch is knackered.
sorry for the long story my 2 questions are
1. Should the lock be ON or OFF on the clutch cable
2. has the clutch burnt due to the lock

thanking in advance
ih

 

[^neo^]

If you mean the white plastic clip / tie at the gearbox end then yes it should be off. It's on there to help fit the cable, it basically hold the self tensioning spring closed so you can get the end of the cables in the holes without the need to compress the spring.
I doubt the cable has affected things at all, it's more likely that the clutch itself was on its way out (maybe clutch arm was siezing or something) and the cable gave way.
How many miles has the car done?

 

[ih]

the car has done 104K miles!!!
Thanks very much for you input ^Neo^
Yes accept that is wear and tear and yes it is the white plastic .
ih