Sorry to hear the results. I try to be careful, plant-wise, what I bring into the home as I grow some exotic plants and some have been with me over twenty years. There are a few that were given to me by people who are now gone, for special times in my life, so they are priceless. I don't think virused or otherwise diseased plants should be permitted to be sold, clear and simple.
I would tell the vendors very nicely that though you absolutely love the plants and you feel they are great vendors, you recently discovered that some of the plants were virused and thought that they might want to know. Just leave it at that. If they thank you and offer a refund or replacement, they are good vendors and trustworthy. If they get defensive or angry, you will know to stay clear of them.
Killing virus (denaturing) can easily be done by temps or pH so I usually either boil plastic pots or soak plastic in bleach. I usually soak in the bleach for a few hours as I am extra paranoid. I bake my red lava rock.
Again, sorry to find you had to toss some orchids.
---------- Post added at 09:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:45 AM ----------
And, I was also told by someone who has collected plants for many, many years and who teaches botany that the surest sign of virus is a decline in vigor. Sometimes it is subtle or sometimes the symptoms can be masked for a time with high-quality care but stress usually will lead to clear symptoms and a decline. I think this makes sense from my own education. I probably keep a clean collection because my care is less than optimal and virused plants would probably fail rather quickly and be tossed.
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