[Protest of GSA Contract Award Alleging Misleading Oral Advice]

A firm protested any contract award for certain items under a solicitation issued by the General Services Administration (GSA), contending that the oral advice it received from the contracting officer misled it into submitting an inappropriate bid. Therefore, it requested that the solicitation be cancelled and reissued with clearly stated requirements. Based on the advice of a contracting officer, the protester prepared its bid based on a type of packaging which made its bid higher than it would have been under customary circumstances. GAO found that the protester misread the requirements of the solicitation. Since the contracting officer denied ever informing the protester about the packaging requirement, the protester failed to meet its burden of proving that such advice was given. In addition, GAO did not find that the instructions were ambiguous. Since there were three bidders for this procurement, and their prices were reasonably competitive, GAO would not sustain the protest on the grounds that effective competition was precluded. Accordingly, the protest was denied.