The majority of my customers treat water softeners the same as water heaters; run them to the ground till they stop working and buy another one. The majority do not want to "know" how to fix a water softener unless it is an O-ring or leaking connection into the softener itself. Age of the unit also is a convincing factor of whether they want the unit to nickel and dime them or not.
Most customers don't want to know softener 101, they just want soft water. I just pulled out 2 water softeners recently, one 7 years old, one 11. Both were Kenmores, both customers did not have any problems up to the point they broke. The specialized water softener guys want a flat rate $150 just to show up, and their speak is to sell, not repair the failing unit.
That is why Sears, Home Depot, Lowe's keep moving their product without the critics slowing them down. That is why the majority of homeowners go for the "cheap" fix because it limits the X amount of money spent, they have soft water and move on.
I'm there for those installs/replacements and the customers mainly worry about the final cost. You start talking about internal parts and the actual functioning of the unit and how it works, you might as well be talking chinese. It's going right over their head. For those who know their product before buying, spend spend spend. There is someone out there to fill your need locally or otherwise.