C2G Ltd. Company

B-411131 May 12, 2015 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights C2G Ltd. Company, a small business, of Goose Creek, South Carolina, protests the non-acceptance of its revised bid submitted during a reverse auction under request for proposals (RFP) No. SP3300-15-R-0005, issued by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance services on government-owned equipment located at DLA Distribution Red River, Texas. C2G contends that the reverse auction system utilized by the agency malfunctioned when it did not accept the protester's revised bid submitted with approximately one second left during the auction. We deny the protest. We deny the protest. View Decision Decision Matter of: C2G Ltd. Company File: B-411131 Date: May 12, 2015 Katherine S. Nucci, Esq., Thompson Coburn LLP, for the protester. Timothy J. Ryan, Esq., and Janet R. Wise, Esq., Defense Logistics Agency, for the agency. Evan D. Wesser, Esq., and Jonathan L. Kang, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest challenging an agency’s non-acceptance of a revised bid submitted during a reverse auction is denied where the record demonstrates that the agency did not receive the revised bid prior to the closing time for the reverse auction. DECISION C2G Ltd. Company, a small business, of Goose Creek, South Carolina, protests the non-acceptance of its revised bid submitted during a reverse auction under request for proposals (RFP) No. SP3300-15-R-0005, issued by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance services on government-owned equipment located at DLA Distribution Red River, Texas.[1] C2G contends that the reverse auction system utilized by the agency malfunctioned when it did not accept the protester’s revised bid submitted with approximately one second left during the auction. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The RFP, which was set aside for small businesses, was issued on November 12, 2014, and sought proposals for a time-and-materials contract for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance services for government-owned equipment, including material handling equipment and vehicles, located at DLA Distribution Red River, Texas. RFP at 3. The RFP anticipated the award of a contract with a base period of 1 year, and two 1-year options. Id. Award was to be made on a lowest-priced, technically-acceptable basis. Id., attach. No. 8, at 1.[2] The RFP also incorporated Defense Logistics Agency Directive clause 52.215-9023, Reverse Auctions (OCT 2013), which defines the agency’s and offerors’ respective obligations when the agency elects to conduct a reverse auction. RFP at 50. On February 5, 2015, DLA invited prospective offerors to participate in a “mock” web-based reverse auction through a commercial, third party reverse auction system provider, Procurex, Inc. Representatives from C2G and another offeror participated in the mock auction. See Procurex Results for Mock Reverse Auction. On February 6, DLA conducted the actual reverse auction, again through the Procurex web-based system. The parties largely agree, with the exception discussed below, regarding the material events that occurred during the reverse auction. The bidding period for the auction commenced at 9:00 a.m. eastern standard time (EST), on February 6, and was to end at 9:30 a.m. EST. See Procurex Email (Feb. 5, 2015) at 1. The reverse auction included an automatic extension provision that would trigger a 3-minute extension to the reverse auction in the event that a bid was successfully placed within the last minute of the auction, i.e., after 9:29 a.m. EST. See id. at 2. The automatic extension would repeat until no additional bids in the last remaining minute of the auction were received. Id. To successfully place a bid during the reverse auction, an offeror had to complete three steps. First, the offeror had to decrement its bid by at least $1,000 less than the current lead bid submitted in the auction. See id.; Decl. of DLA Procurement Analyst (Feb. 20, 2015) at 2. Second, the offeror was prompted to preview and verify its bid. Procurex Email (Feb. 5, 2015) at 2. When an offeror successfully previewed its bid, the system upon receipt would record the completed transaction as “Successful Click of Preview Bid Button.” See Procurex Results for Reverse Auction at 1. Finally, the offeror had to click on the “place bid” prompt generated by the system after the offeror successfully previewed its bid. Procurex Email (Feb. 5, 2015) at 2. When an offeror successfully placed its bid, the system upon receipt would record the completed transaction as “Successful Bid Placed.” See Procurex Results for Reverse Auction at 1.