[Protest of DLA Rejection of Bids and Subsequent Contract Awards for Lubricating Oil and Tetrachloroethylene]

Two firms acting as a joint venture protested the Defense Logistics Agency's (DLA) rejection of its bids and the award of contracts to any other bidders for lubricating oil and tetrachloroethylene, contending that DLA: (1) improperly determined that its bids were nonresponsive; (2) did not allow it to correct an alleged bid ambiguity; (3) improperly allowed the awardee to correct its bid after bid opening; and (4) failed to notify it of the awards. GAO held that DLA: (1) properly rejected the protester's bid as nonresponsive, since the bid was ambiguous as to the bidder's identity; (2) properly did not allow the protester to correct the ambiguity, since a matter of responsiveness was not curable after bid opening; (3) properly allowed the awardee to correct bid errors after bid opening, since the information involved bidder responsibility and did not affect responsiveness; and (4) did not prejudice the protester in its failure to provide prompt notice of award. Accordingly, the protest was denied.