Actually, I couldn't give a 'jot' what excuse is given, just as long as the aeroplane is made safe for commiting to aviation. If it's broke; fix it; and then get under-way.
There will always be disruptive passengers who will want adequate compensation; hence the 'need to know' why we're late. Flight Crew, just like passengers, can be delayed arriving at the aircraft for all manner of reasons.
Many years ago a colleague of mine couldn't make-it to the airport (an out-station; MAN); the engine in his car gave up the ghost and that he was stranded in the middle of nowhere. I was called-out (as standby crew) but that I couldn't drive to MAN, from southern England, in time for the departure. My company asked me to drive to LGW and report to the General Aviation Terminal where I was bundled aboard a Learjet for the short trajectory to MAN. The Learjet taxied right up to the steps of our waiting L1011; where I was met by raptuous applause from our waiting passengers. The passengers had been told that the other crewmember had been involved in a road accident... it was easier to explain! The absent crewmember waited for several hours to be rescued by a recovery vehicle somewhere in the depth of Wales; no mobile signal; but that he'd walked quite a few miles to find a house with a telephone.
Sometimes it's easier to tell a 'white lie' than get involved with a lengthy explanation. He turned-up at MAN just as we got airborne for Teneriffe.