B-140474, AUG. 28, 1959
Highlights
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
B-140474, AUG. 28, 1959
TO MR. ROBERT R. GASTON, CHIEF, MARKETING DIVISION FOR TEXTILES, VETERANS ADMINISTRATION SUPPLY DEPOT:
REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR LETTER DATED AUGUST 11, 1959, WITH ENCLOSURES, YOUR FILE NO. 7018/1341, REQUESTING A DECISION AS TO THE ACTION TO BE TAKEN CONCERNING AN ERROR G AND G COMPANY, INC., ALLEGES IT MADE IN ITS BID OPENED JULY 23, 1959.
BY INVITATION NO. M2-30-60, ISSUED JULY 10, 1959, THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION SUPPLY DEPOT, HINES, ILLINOIS, REQUESTED BIDS FOR THE FURNISHING OF 6 ITEMS OF ORTHOPEDIC PAJAMA COATS AND TROUSERS. THE G AND G COMPANY, INC., SUBMITTED A BID OFFERING TO FURNISH THE SIX ITEMS FOR $1.95 EACH. THE OTHER BIDS ON ITEMS 1 AND 2 WERE $3.56 AND $15 EACH AND THE BIDS ON ITEMS 3, 4, 5 AND 6 WERE $3.37 AND $6 EACH.
YOU STATE THAT, BASED ON A COMPARISON OF BIDS RECEIVED AND PREVIOUS PRICES PAID FOR THESE ITEMS, THE COMPANY WAS REQUESTED ON JULY 24, 1959, TO CONFIRM THE UNIT PRICES OF ITEMS ONE THROUGH SIX. BY LETTER OF JULY 31, 1959, THE COMPANY STATED THAT AN ERROR HAD BEEN MADE IN ITS BID FOR THE REASON THAT THE SPECIFICATIONS ON THE MATERIAL WERE AT ITS FACTORY INSTEAD OF ITS OFFICE AT THE TIME ITS COMPUTATIONS WERE MADE AND THAT IT HAD BID ON WHITE JEAN MATERIAL INSTEAD OF BLUE AS REQUIRED BY THE SPECIFICATIONS. THE COMPANY REQUESTED AN INCREASE OF $0.15 PER GARMENT.
THE BASIC RULE IS THAT BIDS MAY NOT BE CHANGED AFTER THE TIME FIXED FOR OPENING. THE EXCEPTION TO SUCH RULE, WHICH PERMITS CORRECTION OF A BID UPON SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO ESTABLISH THAT THE BIDDER ACTUALLY INTENDED TO BID AN AMOUNT OTHER THAN THAT SET FORTH IN THE BID, WHEN THE CONTRACTING OFFICER IS ON NOTICE OF PROBABLE ERROR PRIOR TO ACCEPTANCE, DOES NOT EXTEND TO THE RECALCULATION OR CHANGING OF THE BID WITHOUT CONCLUSIVE PROOF AS TO THE AMOUNT OF THE INTENDED BID. SEE 17 COMP. GEN. 575, 577; AND 31 ID. 183, 184. IN THE PRESENT CASE G AND G COMPANY, NC., HAS NOT SUBMITTED SUCH PROOF, BUT ONLY ALLEGES IN ITS LETTER OF JULY 31, 1959, THAT ITS BID SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCREASED BY $0.15 PER GARMENT.
IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE BID OF G AND G COMPANY, INC., MAY NOT BE CORRECTED. HOWEVER, SINCE A COMPARISON OF BIDS RECEIVED AND PREVIOUS PRICES PAID FOR THE ITEM INVOLVED INDICATE THAT THE BID OF THE COMPANY WAS IN ERROR, AND SINCE THE ERROR WAS ALLEGED BY THE COMPANY PRIOR TO AWARD, THE BID OF G AND G COMPANY, INC., SHOULD BE DISREGARDED.