How embarrassing!

So most of you know we're pretty clueless when it comes to home repairs.  Here's my latest "duh" moment:

Our water softener hasn't been working for years.  We don't even know if it's ever worked since we bought our house 5 years ago.  So last week I finally got around to calling someone to come and look at it.  Monday morning he came....and guess what the problem was -- it was unplugged!  Yes, that's right, it's been unplugged!  Argh.  I was so embarrassed.  The Water Softener guy didn't seem too impressed, or amused.  

So anyway, I'm admitting this because I want to know if any of you know about water softeners.  This guy said that because it's just sat their for years that it's not worth fixing.  (Something about the sponges growing algae and bacteria which could make us sick.)  He didn't actually look in the tank.  He just said it would need to be replaced.

Do you think he is just trying to sell us a $1000 water softener or is it really not worth fixing?