[Protest of Marine Corps Contract Award for Appliance Repair Services]

A firm protested a Marine Corps contract award for appliance repair services, contending that the Corps: (1) should have rejected the awardee's proposal as unacceptable because the proposal did not meet a number of solicitation requirements; (2) unreasonably evaluated its past performance; and (3) improperly held discussions solely with the awardee. GAO held that the Corps: (1) unreasonably evaluated the awardee's proposal requirements; and (2) improperly accepted the awardee's materially nonconforming proposal. Accordingly, the protest was sustained, and GAO recommended that the Corps: (1) amend the solicitation to represent its actual needs concerning a quality control plan, appliance replacement, and service call warranty requirements; (2) accept and evaluate revised proposals consistent with the amended solicitation; (3) conduct discussions and obtain final revised proposals, if deemed appropriate, and make a new best value determination; (4) terminate the awardee's contract and make award to another bidder, if otherwise appropriate; and (5) reimburse the protester for its protest costs.