print head alignment keeps on getting worse and worse the more I try to "fix" it

First off, I know that this question doesn't really belong in the mbp section, but since I am printing from one, I thought this would be the closest match.

I have an Epson NX420 printer which came with my 2011 mbp 13in for free (err... $100 off the original $95ish to be exact). It will turn 3 years old in less than a month.

This past week, I have had troubles printing "good" images, so I did the print head alignment on Epson Printer Utility 4, following the written directions. I printed something out, and it was still disgustingly off, so I repeated the process two more times, each time printing something different. The vertical alignment is fine, but the horizontal alignment seems to get worse and worse. One thin line will be split into two in some places, and one will be dotted while the other solid, and in the case of color, the two bands are different colors. Solids come out grainy.

I don't want to waste any more paper and expensive ink for something that is not fixing itself. Since my mbp is still under Applecare warrenty, will Apple fix or trade my current printer for another one for free, or does Apple have nothing to do with printers other than its sale? If not, are there alternative ways to fix this problem? I am sure I am choosing the box without any bands at all and if there is I choose the lightest band-in-a-box and click realignment.

Here is the recent printout of random lines and text, after three unsuccesful trials of print head alignment.