Doors and Windows - bad window springs

I am in a 14-year old house with wooden, double hung windows. They have been hard to open/close from the beginning. I tried wax and soap on the "runners" and it was a very temporary help. On three or four we have heard a spring pop loose and now if we can get them up, they just slide back down.
We recently had some work done on porch and deck and some trim work and have been very satisfied with his work. I asked him about the windows and he seems to think our only option is to replace the window. He says getting to the spring is a major job and usually can't be repaired or replaced even when you do.
I find this hard to believe. Can anyone confirm this or give me info as to how I should go about it.
I am handy enough to do it if I just know where to begin.
Thanks.

The guy was being straight with you.

In order to get to the spring, you have to just about take the window frame apart...at the very least, you have to remove the brickmoulding from the outside, then remove the storm stop pc ( what the storm windows or screen sit against on the outside that runs back under the brickmould), then you have to dig the staples out of the aluminum tracks that the springs are behind... CAREFULLY slide the tracks outward .....if you damage or bend them at all, the window REALLY won't slide up or down anymore and they are paper thin....THEN you can get to the spring only to discover the little bell shaped plastic end that used to connect it to the sash is probably what is broken, not the spring itself....and NO, I have no idea where to get replacement......I don't figure they really expected anyone to go thru all this to do it, so there's no market for them......

Bottomline: You have cheap windows that weren't designed for maintenance. Replace them with some that aren't that way.