HELP! received tulip bulbs. They look sick!

I just received part of my order. It includes 10 tulip bulbs (tulipa double late "blue diamond") and 5 hyacinth bulbs (mixed colors), and a live plant (fig).
The hyacinths seem ok, they have the protective sheath over them, and except for the fact that they arrived moist (the sheath is humid), I cannot tell what's underneath. So I think I can declare them fine.
Now, for the tulips: on the bright side (the only "bright side") they are nice size.
The bad: one is completely rotten, is soft, mushy and completely browned (center-right in picture). All the remaining bulbs have browny spots/blemishes/marks on their white flesh. They look like attacked/bitten by fungi/parasites. I am trying to take a close-up for one bulb (without tearing the package), maybe you can see better what I mean. Please take a look and advise.
Do you think they are healthy, or sick? What should I do?
Thank you so much for any suggestions you may have!
Alexandra (goofybulb).

a closer view.

Another close-up. Please, help!
Alexandra

You should request a return authorization and have them replaced if you want or get your $ back. They don't look healthy at all. They should have the outer skin intact.
Almost reminds me of garlic that is all briused. :(
Where did you order from if you don't mind me asking?

I thought I will keep it for my evaluation on garden Watchdog. It is Park Seed. This is part of the order that i placed on July 30th. It arrived today, more that 1 month later than their fall shipping time for my area (which was September 10th), still incomplete. I still have to receive another tulip bulb pack, and lilly-of-the-valley pips, and I'm wondering if I should return and cancel the rest. the only thing that they shipped promptly were some seeds, but I've had some trouble threre too.
I am so unhappy with them. and i've done some emailing so far, mostly because they delayed the shipping without notice or reason. You will probably see a review on GWD soon, with my whole story. I wish I knew about DG before placing the order...
Alexandra

goofybulb, I love your screen name! I buy seed from Parks, and have been fairly pleased, so far. I buy my bulbs from Lowes or Walmart, for one thing they are cheap, and I get big, good looking bulbs. I realize selection can be limited. But I feel like at least I can see what I'm getting.

Thank you, Raggedyann. True, the boo-boos on these bulbs look like garlick-gone-bad. I kept thinking: where did I ever see such things? You reminded me where.
Crashbandiscoot, you have a pretty name yourself. My husband nicknamed me Goofy a long time ago. But goofy was taken... and my greatest gardening success were bulbs...
True, I love seeing what i'm getting, however, the stores here have quite a limited selection of bulbs (too tropical, i guess), and i've never had purple/blue tulips. See how "goofy" can you get because of some nice color pictures? this was my first internet plant order experience except of Home-Depot online store.

Hi goofy,
I agree, I would make them replace those bulbs. I don't think I'd even waste time planting them (maybe in pots just to see what happens). I recently received an order from High Country Gardens for three asclepia tuberosa plants. One got crushed under the other two during shipping so I emailed them and asked for a replacement plant. They did me even better--they sent me THREE replacements! That's really good service. I went into Garden Watchdog and gave them some much-deserved glowing comments.

I've had bulbs that looked like that before, and they grew fine. I'm with NatureLover tho, I would ask for a replacement, puting these in pots sounds like a good idea.

Hi Goofybulb, I just want to add my money's worth to your query re bulbs. I agree wholeheartedly with the advice already given, the bulbs look like they have the start of mould growing on them, this is caused by improper storage by either the importer, the growers or the packagers, but either way, send them back but give them an email first to let them know you are very disappointed with the results, the delays and the lack of communication from the company, like what if you had been away from home etc, these companies normally have a return policy for when things go wrong, and lets be fair, sometimes they do due to things outwith their control, but you need to get your bulbs planted within the next few weeks if you want to enjoy them, it may well be that this late in the bulb planting season, they will not be able to offer you replacements of the same type, so ask for full refund.
As for buying bulbs from stores, growers or wherever, the bulbs should be plump, free from blemishes, firm and either sold loose or within good quality packaging, the trouble with the type of plastic bags we all sometimes buy our bulbs in causes them to sweat as the bags were only ever designed for short term storage. It may well be that the company will tell you not to return the bulbs due to the lateness of planting times etc, if that is the case, then remove the soft ones and plant the rest in tubs so you can keep an eye on them and if you see any signs of trouble, you can get rid and it wont spread to other parts of your garden. You may want to dip them in some sort of fungal deterrent before you plant them incase the mould has just got onto the other bulbs. Good luck, hope all goes well and you have a lovely show of spring bulbs for 2008. WeeNel.

Dear DG friends,
Thank you all so much for the advice. I was so upset yesterday when my order arrived. I never spent my free time taking pictures of ugly things. And since my childhood, I've been around tulips, that my grandma used to take care of, and then my father, and they always seemed perfect, no bugs, no rot, without any special care. We would dig them up during summer only if they were crowded too much (shown by less flowering in spring), and put them back in the earth late September/middle October. When not in the ground, our bulbs never received special treatment during storage. Just a cooler, dry place, to avoid "cooking them” in the heat of the summer. And they always came back. To me, tulips were always perennial.
Then I came here, in Miami, and I found out that "tulips are annuals". You can find them in supermarkets, already potted and sprouted, in bud, anytime between January (sometimes December) and March (April?). To be enjoyed and then discarded. I think this is a sin. If my grandma were alive, she would say: send me the bulbs! So I tried to keep them. I even got a few to flower the second year.
The delay in delivery upset me more because in order to make them sprout and flower, I have to force them. Store them in the refrigerator for at least 6 weeks. And hope that, when taken out, it isn't too hot so they would grow too fast, too weak. Well, "cold" weather in Miami happens somewhere in late December - January - early February. And a spring equivalent (temperature-wise) in Miami lasts for only 2 weeks.
I was planning to keep the bulbs in the refrigerator and take them during the cold weather. Maybe I still have time. It's not that my soil will freeze; it's just that my soil doesn't!
Today I feel better. And thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I want to keep tending and caring for my flowers because it relaxes me and reminds me of home. Gardening is sublime!
Alexandra

You go for it Alexandra, nothing gained nothing lost is good saying for gardeners, I totally agree with you as to how the changes have happened with bulbs, in your Grandma's/fathers day, like mine, everything grew in seasons like Autumn, Spring, Summer and Winter, but now plant breeders/growers etc, have moved the goal posts way out of that seasonal growing time and have developed plants that can be sold, produced and imported from all parts of the world, most of the bulbs we buy now have been specially treated, a) to last longer between lifting from the growing fields and b) to flower at different times, to be of some weird and wonderful colour, no smell or look so different from what the original plants were, and we new from childhood, I guess progress is good in some ways, but sometimes I personally feel at other times, we have gone to far and way beyond what true nature, ever intended, so the bulbs you find in pots outwith the normal flowering time have been forced into growth either with hormone treatment or special lights to trick the plants into growth and then they only last for the one season, it's also a great money making business and we the consumers encourage this because we want to grow or display plants that were way out of our normal growing seasons, I guess for you, it would be far better to try get lists of bulbs that the type and seasons match what we are all used to, they are all still around, but we sometimes have to search harder to get them, my own opinion is that the old sports are far better, stronger and more beautiful than a lot of the more modern ones anyway, but were all different and we all want a challenge, hope you get lucky and continue for many more years enjoying your bulb growing and your gardening. WeeNel.

Thanks, WeeNel! You are really nice, and what you say is true. I got fooled also, because I'm crazy about spring flowers, and I love blue!
So not only I am trying to fool the nature with tulip bulbs in the refrigerator, but also looking for "unusual and weird": blue tulips.
The marvels of the old gardens are still alive, and I guess the best shot is to mix the old and the new, the trustworthy and the odd-balls, thus bringing equilibrium, not only in the garden, but also in our frustration/joy and humility/pride.
Goofybulb