Good to know. I am trying to figure out if I want to keep renting or buy a water softener before my 3-month trial is up. What I am worried about in buying one from Sears or HD is that I have heard that the dept. store softeners don't work very well with our water (these are opinions from individuals, not Culligan). That said, there are some larger units from Fleck and GE that look like they would work pretty well and cost quite a bit less than the Culligan unit if I were to buy it ($800-900 vs. $2500). If I do buy a unit, I would not be interested in a service contract. I can buy my own salt/potassium for less probably, and other than warranty work, I can fix stuff myself (I'm pretty handy). Unlike other home appliances, though, I just don't really know much about water softeners when it comes to requirements, quality, etc. The mechanics are pretty straightforward, though.