Hi Derek,
The pool is real green, and yessss we put chlorine in it,
but it's still green, we should build a new pool,
please let me know.
I don't know sometimes, one thing is pretty obvious he didn't want to hear anything from you about o-rings.
How did the filter start leaking all of a sudden, or has this been an ongoing problem with the filter?
Were they attempting to clean the filter, and after putting it back together it started leaking, then after they put a new o-ring in and it still leaked, this was going to be the limit of there effort to fix the leak before they jump to "you need a new filter"
What you need to do at this point, if this is some recent problem that just happened out of the blue, is question why they can't provide a better answer as to how they arrived at this decision to justify a new filter, okay it leaks, well why can't the leak be stopped? is the filter tank cracked? are the retaining clamps unable to tighten the tank halves together because they are stripped? there should be some reason to give you, as to why they recommend a new filter.
I would have to find out why i cant stop it from leaking, when it wasn't leaking before, but now after i was the last one to work on it, it leaks, i know that parts counter guys that place your order can lay out an o-ring that appears to be the one you need, and because you never have had an issue with being given an incorrect part from them before, you assume it's correct, only to discover it is not after spending all day trying to stop it from leaking, now my efforts to correct the leak have paid off, and i get the right o-ring now, learn that i can being given the wrong part, and move on, the difference in o-ring size can be so slight, but if its wrong, it can leak,
There is no reason to not expect a reasonable effort to determine if the leak can be stopped, or at least have them be able to explain to you why you need a new filter, other than "it leaks"