The "hard enough to damage the pipes over time" line is doing a lot of work there. Hard water leaves scale, sure, but it usually takes decades to really mess up pipes, and it's not some emergency that means you have to sign a contract that same day. That was a sales pitch, and a water test that only the salesman runs is not a real test. I would get an independent test done, or buy a cheap kit yourself, and actually find out your grains per gallon before you spend another dime. Also, a softener only softens, it does not filter, so spots on dishes can still happen if you have other stuff in the water or if the unit is not set right. If your skin feels exactly the same after eight months, either the thing is not working or it was never sized for your actual water. Check the hardness of the water coming out of the tap, not the water going in.

Dealt with the same thing two years ago when I moved from Dallas to Seattle. The low bidder sat on my car for almost a week before it finally got picked up, and nobody would answer my calls. Learned the hard way that the cheapest quote usually means your car just sits there while they wait to fill up a truck.