[Protest of DPSC Rejection of Bid as Late]

A firm protested the rejection of its bid under a Defense Personnel Support Center (DPSC) solicitation for sodium chloride irrigation, contending that its bid was late solely due to government mishandling. A courier delivered the bid to the DPSC mail room 2 hours before bid opening, but the DPSC staff processed the bid as routine internal mail, and the bid was delivered to the cognizant office after bid opening. GAO held that the bid was late because: (1) the courier delivered the bid to the mail room rather than to the correct office; and (2) a typographical error in the address on the bid package could have prevented mail room personnel from realizing that the package contained a bid. Accordingly, the protest was denied.