CBCA 7281

DENIED: June 14, 2022 CBCA 7281 BADLAND TRUCK SALES, INC., Appellant, v. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, Respondent. Jeremy Alley, President of Badland Truck Sales, Inc., Glendive, MT, appearing for Appellant. Neeraj Kumar and Keaton Norquist, Office of Regional Counsel, General Services Administration, San Francisco, CA, counsel for Respondent. KULLBERG, Board Judge. Appellant, Badland Truck Sales (BTS), claims the amount of $10,500 for the reduction in price of a John Deere 544J wheeled loader (loader) that it purchased from the General Services Administration’s (GSA’s) auction website. BTS contends that it is entitled to the reduction in price because of problems with the loader that were unknown at the time of the sale. GSA, the respondent, has filed a motion for summary judgment in this appeal on the grounds that BTS failed to timely submit written notice of misdescription as required under the terms and conditions of its contract or, in the alternative, that the terms and conditions of the sale did not provide a warranty for the condition of the loader. BTS has opposed the motion on the grounds that GSA was aware of the condition of the loader, and it should have been allowed additional time to file its notice. CBCA 7281 2 Subsequent to GSA’s motion for summary judgment, BTS elected to have the Board hear this appeal under the Board’s small claims procedure. Rule 52 (48 CFR 6101.52 (2020)). Accordingly, this decision “is final and conclusive, shall not be set aside except for fraud, and is not precedential.” Rule 52(c). For the reasons stated below, the Board grants GSA’s motion for summary judgment and denies the appeal. Background The Board finds the facts set forth below to be not in dispute. On July 1, 2021, GSA offered the loader for sale on its auction website. The description of the wheel loader was the following: 2006 John Deere 544J Wheeled Loader . . . . Loader was acquired in August 2006 with original cost of $102,565.73. Unknown deficiencies. SOLD AS IS. Inspection is highly recommended prior to bidding. Successful bidder is responsible for packing and removal. Loader is located at South Rim, Grand Canyon National Park 1575 Shuttlebus Rd., Grand Canyon, AZ. GSA required that participants in its auctions “acknowledge that they have read and accepted ALL terms and conditions detailed on this website and indicate that they agree by marking the required box during the registration process.” Those terms and conditions, in pertinent part, were the following: Condition of property is not warranted. Deficiencies, when known, have been indicated in the property descriptions. However, absence of any indicated deficiencies does not mean that none exists. Therefore, the bidder should ascertain the condition of the item through physical inspection. .... The Government warrants to the original purchaser that the property listed on GSAAuctions.gov will conform to its written description. Features, characteristics, deficiencies, etc. not addressed in the description are excluded from this warranty. GSA further cautions bidders that GSA’s written description represents GSA’s best effort to describe the item based on the information provided to it by the owning agency. Therefore, gross omissions regarding the functionality of items, failures to cite major missing parts and/or restrictions with regards to usage may occur. CBCA 7281 3 The Government does not warrant the merchantability of the property or its purpose. The purchaser is not entitled to any payment for loss or profit or any other money damages–special, direct, indirect, or consequential. .... If items have been awarded but paid for and the successful bidder feels that the property is mis-described, he/she must follow these procedures. A written claim needs to be submitted to the Sales Contracting Officer within 15 calendar days from the date of award requesting release of contractual obligation for reasons satisfying that of a mis-description.