Request for Reconsideration

A firm requested reconsideration of a previous sustainment of audit action by the General Services Administration (GSA) on seven notices of overcharges. The notices of overcharges resulted from a determination by GSA that freight charges lower than those collected by the firm were in effect and applicable to seven shipments of household goods transported by the firm between June 9 and 17, 1977. The lower freight charges were derived from the firm's rate Tender 63 and Tender 64, whose cancellation did not become effective until June 22, 1977, when the firm's cancellation supplements were accepted by the Military Traffic Management Command. The firm asserted in its request for reconsideration that its tenders represented continuing offers which were revocable at the firm's discretion and that notice of revocation in the form of the cancellation supplement received by the Military Traffic Management Command terminated the offeree's power to make any further contract by later acceptance. Also, the firm contended that: (1) when it filed cancellation supplements to Tender 63 and Tender 64 on May 2, 1977, those supplements became effective 30 days later on June 2, 1977, before it received the seven shipments for transportation; and (2) an error in a replacement tender should not have any effect on the cancellation of any other tender. GAO held that the cancellation supplements for Tender 63 and Tender 64 were effectively revoked on June 2, 1977, and that the seven shipments could not be authorized for performance of transportation services under the canceled tenders. Additionally, GAO held that in the case where a carrier-offeror files simultaneously with a Government-offeree a cancellation supplement to rate tender and a replacement rate tender, the offeree may not reject a cancellation supplement on the ground that the replacement tender is defective. Accordingly, the previous sustainment of audit action by GSA was reversed, and GSA was notified to take appropriate action on the notices of overcharges sent to the firm.