BNUMBER:  B-281556             
DATE:  February 24, 1999
TITLE: American Material Handling, Inc., B-281556, February 24, 1999
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Matter of:American Material Handling, Inc.

File:B-281556            
        
Date:February 24, 1999

Sid Goss for the protester. 
John W. Huckle, Esq., Department of the Air Force, for the agency. 
John L. Formica, Esq., Charles W. Morrow, Esq., and James A. 
Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in 
the preparation of the decision.

DIGEST

Agency's loss of a quote received through the Federal Acquisition 
Computer Network due to a computer malfunction does not provide a 
basis to sustain the protest where the loss was an isolated error, and 
was not part of a deliberate effort to exclude the protester from the 
competition or the result of the agency's failure to have adequate 
procedures in place for the receipt and safeguarding of quotes.

DECISION

American Material Handling, Inc. protests the award of a contract to 
R&R Limited under request for quotations (RFQ) No. F04684-98-Q-S178, 
issued by the Department of the Air Force for a 40-foot articulating 
boom lift.  The procurement was solicited under simplified acquisition 
procedures through the Federal Acquisition Computer Network 
(FACNET).[1]  

We deny the protest.

The Air Force issued the RFQ through the FACNET on August 27, 1998.  
Soliciting through FACNET requires electronically transmitting the 
solicitation from a computer terminal to a government gateway, which 
is a computer/communications system performing a variety of data 
management functions.  After processing by the gateway, the 
information is transmitted through a network entry point to 
Value-Added-Networks (VAN), which are private sector entities that 
provide the electronic procurement information to businesses that have 
registered to contract with the government through the FACNET.  Any 
electronic commerce, such as the submission of a quote, requires these 
businesses to access the same process in reverse order.  S.D.M. 
Supply, Inc., supra, at 2.  Here, the RFQ was transmitted from 
Vandenburg Air Force Base (AFB) through the government gateway at Hill 
AFB with a stated due date for quotes of September 4.

American asserts that it transmitted a quote priced at $51,731 for the 
boom lift in response to the RFQ on September 4.  In support of this 
assertion, American has submitted a copy of the quote it claims to 
have submitted with a September 4 date on it.  American explains that 
the copy of the quote was returned by its VAN, and that the date was 
automatically recorded on the copied quote when it was transmitted 
through the FACNET. 

According to the Air Force, their computer system at Vandenburg AFB 
reserved for the receipt of quotes malfunctioned on September 4, and 
they were unable to retrieve any quotes that may have been submitted 
on that date.[2]  In view of this problem, the Air Force retransmitted 
the RFQ on September 17, with a revised due date for quotes of 
September 21.  The agency also intended to transmit with the reissued 
RFQ a note stating as follows:  "Our computer system crashed and all 
bid offers were lost.  Please submit your bid no later than 21 
September 98."  Agency Report, Tab 5, Buyer's Note, Sept. 16, 1998.  
However, during the course of this protest it was discovered by the 
agency that the note erroneously "stayed within the Government 
computer system," and was not transmitted over the FACNET.  Agency 
Memorandum of February 5, 1999.   The protester explains that it did 
not submit a second quote upon seeing only the retransmission of the 
RFQ because the protester assumed that its quote was properly 
submitted, and was unaware from the retransmission itself that its 
quote had been lost due to a malfunction in the Air Force's computer 
system.

On September 21, the Air Force received a quote in response to the 
retransmitted RFQ from R&R at a price of $52,040.  No other quotes 
were received, and a purchase order was issued to R&R on September 
29.[3]

American asserts that it is being unfairly "penalized for [the 
agency's] computer failure," and argues that it should have received 
the purchase order.  Protest at 2.

When using simplified acquisition procedures, agencies must promote 
competition "to the maximum extent practicable."  10 U.S.C.  sec.  
2304(g)(3) (1994).  In meeting this requirement, agencies must make 
reasonable efforts, consistent with efficiency and economy, to afford 
all eligible and interested vendors an opportunity to compete.  S.D.M. 
Supply, Inc., supra, at 4.  Agencies have a fundamental obligation to 
have procedures in place not only to receive quotations, but also to 
reasonably safeguard quotations received and to give them fair 
consideration.  Id.  However, as a practical matter, even with 
appropriate procedures in place, an agency may lose or misplace a bid 
or quotation, and the occasional loss of a bid or quotation--even if 
through the negligence of the agency--generally does not entitle the 
bidder or vendor to relief.  Id.; Interstate Diesel Serv., Inc., 
B-244842.2, Sept. 27, 1991, 91-2 CPD  para.  304 at 2.  

Our Office has recognized a limited exception to the general rule that 
the negligent loss of a quote or bid in and of itself does not entitle 
a bidder to relief.  This exception applies where the record 
demonstrates that the loss was not an isolated incident, but rather, 
was part of a systemic failure on behalf of the agency such that the 
procedures in place to receive and safeguard quotes cannot be 
considered reasonable.  For example, in East West Research Inc., 
B-239565, B-239566, Aug. 21, 1990, 90-2 CPD  para.  147, aff'd, Defense 
Logistics Agency--Recon., B-239565.2, B-239566.2, Mar. 19, 1991, 91-1 
CPD  para.  298, our Office concluded that the contracting agency breached 
its statutory duty to promote competition to the maximum extent 
practicable where during a period of less than 1 week the contracting 
agency received, and then lost, two quotations submitted by the same 
vendor is response to two different RFQs.  Similarly, our Office found 
in S.D.M. Supply, Inc., supra, that the agency's procedures for 
receiving and safeguarding quotes transmitted through the FACNET could 
not be found reasonable where the record evidenced that in addition to 
losing the protester's quote, the agency had previously lost the 
quotes of other vendors submitted in response to a number of other 
RFQs.  

The Air Force reports that the problems encountered, that is, the loss 
of any quotes received when the system malfunctioned on September 4 
and the failure of the note informing vendors of the malfunction to 
accompany the retransmitted RFQ, were isolated events.  Because the 
record here does not evidence that the loss of American's quote 
resulted from any deliberate effort on the agency's part or that it 
was part of a systemic failure by the agency to receive and safeguard 
quotes, the loss of American's quote, while unfortunate, provides no 
basis to provide it relief.

The protest is denied.

Comptroller General 
of the United States 

1. FACNET is an electronic marketplace for the acquisition of goods 
and services, which agencies can utilize to post notices of and 
receive responses to solicitations, post notice of contract awards, 
and issue orders where practicable; and private sector users can 
access notice of solicitations, receive orders and access information 
regarding awards.  S.D.M. Supply, Inc., B-271492, June 26, 1996, 96-1 
CPD  para.  288 at 1-2, recon. denied, Department of the Army--Recon., 
B-271492.2,
Nov. 27, 1996, 96-2 CPD  para.  203.

2. The determination that no quotes could be recovered was made after 
a thorough search of the agency's computer system and the government 
gateway.

3. The notification of the issuance of the purchase order was 
transmitted on an alternate computer system, and American did not 
learn of the award until October 20.  American then filed an 
agency-level protest, which the Air Force denied.  This protest 
followed.  In the interim, the articulating boom lift was delivered to 
the Air Force by R&R.