06 vectra gear selector ?

i have a 06 vectra on as a taxi, yesterday i was just driving as normal then i don't know what happened to the gear lever, the lever wont spring back in to the central position & there feels like there is no resistance anymore , the lever feels a bit "floppy" now, if i pop it in, lets say 5th then flick it down to neutral it just comes across the box to the central position very slow, when i hit the gears right they go in fine, it just seems as though the spring that moves it to the center of the box has snapped or something
Anyway ,took it to my mechanic this morning & it was a snapped spring , he took off the gater & the spring in the picture is snapped, cost to replace spring ?? cant be done have to buy the whole unit £188, so that's £188 for a snapped spring that would cost a couple of quid ,crazy



What i would like to know are there any consequences driving with the box like this, the part in question will take 3-4 days for delivery so i worked today & tbh i am getting used to it, never missed a gear & its not a problem anymore , any mechanics or whatever give me a bit info please ASAP as i will cancel the order & have a look about the scrap yards/breakers for one at a later date, cheers for any help