Yeah there are very few stores left that don't try to sell vs saving the customer money.
here is some help with the abreviations, from pool school
FC - The stuff that sanitizes your water.
CC - Combined Chloramines - The stuff that smells like chlorine and burns your eyes that you get rid of by shocking your pool...hmm the way most public pools smell
TC - Total Chlorine = FC+CC
PH - Potential of Hydrogen - A measure of how acidic or basic (alkaline) a solution is. A pH of 7 is considered neutral, anything above 7 is basic and anything below is acidic. Pools are usually kept at a pH from 7.2 to 7.8. pH in pools is tested with the indicator phenol red.
TA - Total Alkalinity - TA is sometimes called carbonate hardness or kH. It has nothing to do with water hardness. This is a measure of the carbonates and bicarbonates in your water that help keep your pH from swinging up and down. It is tested with a titration (drop counting) test that has a distinct color change from green to red or from blue to light yellow, depending on your test kit.
CH - Calcium Hardness -This is the amount of calcium in your water and is most important if you have a plaster pool (marcite, exposed aggregate, quartz, etc.). It is not as important in vinyl pools. In fiberglass pools it helps prevent staining and cobalt spotting. Too high a calcium level can lead to scaling and cloudy water, too low can damage plaster surfaces. The recommended range is between 200-400 ppm for both plaster and fiberglass. It really is not an issue for vinyl pools unless it is very high. Anything above about 130 ppm is probably ok for vinyl and above 200 ppm for fiberglass. If there is a warranty on your pool or liner that specifies a calcium level then follow that to keep your warranty! It is tested with a titration (drop count) test that changes color from pink to blue.
CYA - Cyanuric Acid - Sometimes called stabilizer or conditioner, it helps protect the chlorine from 'burning off' in direct sunlight. Too little and most of your chlorine can be lost in about 30 minutes of direct sun. Too much and it interferes with your chlorine's ability to sanitizer and kill algae. Recommended range is 30-50 ppm unless you have a salt water chlorine generator, then the recommended range is somewhere between 50-100 ppm depending on the manufacturer of your unit.