Poor service from HP and Makro

I bought 10 HP 123 Printer cartridges some months ago at Makro to find that three of the cartridges are faulty. I discussed this with Sipho at HP ( spent over an hour trying to get to speak to someone ) took his advice and went back to Makro to be told because the packages are open a no return policy exists. Pray tell me, how does one find out if the goods are in order without opening them. Hewlett Packard and Makro do not support the goods they sell and rest assured I will communicate this experience with all my customers and friend. I may be R 1200.00 out of pocket, but this episode will cost HP somewhat more. Needless to say as soon as my cartridges are used up my HP Deskjet 2630 is destined to the dustbin. This is a disgrace.