That's exactly how a salt water pool should be, once a week checking should be fine. But if he's letting the FC level get low due to the SWCG not being set properly, or due to improper CYA level, then algae is going to form and create CCs in the pool. If CCs are in the pool, the pool is going to smell of chlorine and cause burning eyes.
Like I said, 3ppm is LESS than what is allowed in plain tap water. If they can shower without burning eyes, they should be able to use their pool without burning eyes.
http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants ... ctants.cfm
I hate making blanket statements, mostly because we have some really good, quality, trustworthy, knowledgable pool service people here. But I know there are plenty of lazy, ignorant ones out there, as I've seen how some of my friends' pools are maintained. One friend has a pool guy that stops by once a week, throws a trichlor tablet in a skimmer, then leaves. Well, that's not completely true, he told him once he needed all new grids for his DE filter, put them in, charged him, then when I looked at them there was nothing wrong with the original ones at all.
Their pool guy has the easiest of the easy, a salt water pool. Pretty much all he has to do is check the chems (pH can climb on those systems, FC consumption changes throughout the year, CYA needs to be correct to hold FC), sweep the pool, check the filter pressures, then go. I will tell you I have yet to see the pool guy check the chemical levels on any of my friends' pools. It is impossible to keep a pool properly maintained without knowing what is in it and how it's reacting.
Even if they were to go to a non-chlorine system, if it's not properly maintained it's going to have trouble, and will end up causing the same issues they are complaining about now. In fact, from what I've read here, those systems are even more prone to going out of balance than a properly balanced salt water pool.