If the shingles are nailed near or on the center line like they should be, it will be very hard to remove the first row without lifting the second and maybe third row too. Then those shingles are loose and the nails are hidden. If the soffits are open and they used long enough nails, they can be banged up a bit from below and then pried out. Damaging the rows above.
A strip of metal flashing with some tar and a few nails to hold it, might be a solution I'd settle for if that was my mess.
By the way, if those are 3-tab shingles, there is a gap every 13". With correctly laid starters or inverted 3-tabs, there is still a gap every 39". The only way to get it 100% right is a complete tearoff and redo. So the ball is in your court. Would you not just call for a repair and move on?