Can't send a proper pdf file via phpmailer AddAttachment - php

Question

private function mailToClient($file, $customer, $trans_id = "")
{
if(!$customer["email"]) return;
$mail = &$this->getMailObject();
$country = $_SESSION[PROJECT]["user"]["details"]["country"];
$lang = getLanguage();
if( empty($trans_id))
{
//get header
$set = getContentByCode("client_email_header");
if(!$set->EOF)
$msg_html = $set->fields["content_$lang"];
}
else
{
//get header
$set = getContentByCode("client_email_with_card_header");
if(!$set->EOF)
$msg_html = $set->fields["content_$lang"];
}
if( $country != "Schweiz" && !empty($trans_id))
{
//get header
$set = getContentByCode("client_email_nonswiss_card");
if(!$set->EOF)
$msg_html = $set->fields["content_$lang"];
}
$msg_html = $this->replacePlaceHolders($msg_html, $customer);
$msg_plain = strip_tags($msg_html);
//get footer
$set = getContentByCode("client_email_footer");
if(!$set->EOF)
$msg_html2 = $set->fields["content_$lang"];
$msg_html2 = $this->replacePlaceHolders($msg_html2, $customer);
$msg_plain2 = strip_tags($msg_html2);
//get order
$order = file_get_contents($file);
$mail->Subject = (EMAIL_SUBJECT_PREFIX ? EMAIL_SUBJECT_PREFIX." " : "")."Order from TERRA KERAMIK";
$mail->Body = $msg_html."<br />".$order."<br />".$msg_html2;
$mail->AltBody = $msg_plain.$msg_plain2;
//$mail->AddAttachment($file, date("d.m.Y H_i")." order.xls");
$mail->AddAttachment($file, date("d.m.Y H_i")." ".mn_transliterate($customer["name"]." ".$customer["surname"].".pdf", $encoding = 'base64', $type = 'application/pdf'));
$mail->AddAddress($customer["email"], $customer["name"]." ".$customer["surname"]);
$mail->Send();
I know there are similar questions, however the solutions they are offering don't help. Just trying my luck.
So, I've got this code which send a client an email plus adds an attachment. The attachment itself is a html table. It is also added into the email and looks like this
When I receive an email the attachment is there but is corrupted or damaged. Other solutions advised to add "$encoding = 'base64', $type = 'application/pdf'" along with file path and name.
This doesn't change situation at all. At the same time this code, which is currently commented
//$mail->AddAttachment($file, date("d.m.Y H_i")." order.xls"); works pretty fine, I do receive an excel file with information.
Any thoughts?