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You are here: Home / Government Contracting News / Don’t rely on automatic email response, GAO decision warns

January 13, 2021 By cs

Don’t rely on automatic email response, GAO decision warns

Agencies commonly ask offerors to designate a point of contact for communications about the proposal.  But what happens if the person the offeror identifies is unavailable when the agency reaches out?

A recent GAO bid protest decision is a cautionary tale and suggests some best practices for offerors.

The GAO’s decision in Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc., B-418946 (Oct. 23, 2020) involved a Navy RFQ seeking two clinical chemistry/immunoassay laboratory analyzer systems and one laboratory automation system, to provide laboratory testing of patient specimens at the Naval hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.

In December 2019, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. submitted a quotation.  In its quotation, Ortho-Clinical identified its Contract Manager as the company’s sole point of contact for any communications regarding the quotation.

The Navy received initial quotations from five companies, including Ortho-Clinical. After reviewing initial quotations, the Navy found that none of them, including Ortho-Clinical’s, were technically acceptable.  The Navy elected to open discussions with all five companies to allow them to address the shortcomings in their initial quotations.

Keep reading this article at: https://smallgovcon.com/gaobidprotests/proposal-points-of-contact-dont-rely-on-automatic-email-response-gao-decision-warns/

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: bid protest, GAO, Navy, POC, protest, quotation, RFQ

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