HP Printer Problems

I purchased a HP Deskjet 3525 printer from incredible connection. Just after the warranty period the printer started giving me problems. The print head does not want to align so what ever I print comes out as blank. I have only been using genuine HP ink cartridges as well. I took the printer in to Incredible Connection and they told me it would cost at least R500 to repair. I find this ridiculous because this is more than 50% of the cost of the printer. To make matters worse my printer has a full set of ink cartridges and I cannot use it. The newer HP printers also use a different type of cartridge so I could not make use of my current cartridges. I feel helpless. I have been using a number of HP products for many years and always perceived them to be of a high quality. I am very dissatisfied with the printer because I have not done anything to prevent it from working as it should. I hope that HP can contact me and offer some sort of compensation in order to keep me as a customer.