Could not complete the import tracks command because basic_string::at

a search is turning up nothing at all on this, so here goes.

Starting a feature so I'm getting AAFs out of his Premiere project. He has it in a bunch of reels (11!) and sent them each separately. Reels 2-11 imported perfectly, reel 1 is giving the error
Could not complete the import tracks command because basic_string::at
every time.

I've had him strip automation, remove fades, remove effects, etc, to no avail. He even just made me an AAF per track and those are still throwing the error. Which seems to indicate something outside of a file problem, since 2 of the tracks are only a few music clips (according to him).

This guy is a novice to say the least, what can I suggest to try and trouble shoot this? I don't know Premiere much at all...

thanks for any thoughts!