[Protest of Bid Rejection Under GPO Solicitation]

A firm protested the Government Printing Office's (GPO) rejection of its bid which contained a 3-day offer acceptance clause. GPO, unable to make award during that period, determined that to permit the protester to extend its bid acceptance period would be prejudicial to the other bidders, and it rejected the bid. The protester contended that: (1) the inclusion of the 3-day acceptance period was an error which it should be allowed to correct; (2) it had similarly amended a bid under a past procurement and received the award; and (3) GPO should accept its bid to take advantage of the lower price. GAO held that: (1) GPO properly disallowed extension of the protester's bid acceptance period; (2) there was no evidence to support the protester's contention that the 3-day acceptance period was included in error; (3) the government may not be estopped from properly rejecting a bid because of past incorrect actions; and (4) the possibility that the government might realize monetary savings by allowing the protester to alter its acceptance period is outweighed by the importance of maintaining the integrity of the competitive procurement system. Accordingly, the protest was denied.