jerked around?

So I had a company out today to clean my air ducts as I have been finding black stuff coming out of our vents. Well the company also does plumbing work and the guy from the company informed me today that he checked my water softener and said it isn't regenerating.
Now I put in a new Fleck 5600 system a few years ago and believe I have it set up right and have asked plumbers in the past if they thought so as well and they didn't say anything bad.
Anyway, the guy today said that he could tell my unit isn't regenerating as the water line is above the salt. The brine tank is probably a 1/4 full of salt and the water about an inch above that.
Question is...this guy filling me with crap? Or how do I know if it's regenerating or not?

Is the water soft? Does soap lather easily? Some brine tanks work on a set of floats which can keep the water level higher than others. Some brine tanks have a float mechanism that keeps the tank from overflowing if it quits drawing brine during regeneration. Some don't. The way to check it out; is to feel the motor. Is it warm? Is it making noise (you have to put your ear up to it to tell.) The 5600 has a large knob that turns clockwise. By turning that knob from Service in the little window to the next cycle (I think it's backwash) you will put it into a manual regeneration, it should go through the cycles and back to service. Takes about 45 minutes.