There are a high number of GAO bid protests involving late submissions of proposals. Bidders who have been disqualified because their proposals were not received in the time and manner specified in the solicitation often protest the Government’s actions – usually on the grounds that they tried to comply with the submission instructions but the bid got stuck in the Government’s email system or the guard at the gate wouldn’t let them in to hand-deliver a proposal. It is very rare that the Comptroller General (CG) will sustain such protests. The CG pretty much takes the position that its the bidders responsibility to figure things out. One recent exception involved an email glitch that quarantined several bidders on the same solicitation. That time, according to the CG, it was the Government’s fault.
New Regulation Formalizes Ombudsman Practice and Identity for IDIQ Contracts
An ‘ombudsman’ is an official charged with addressing and/or investigating the interests of individuals’ or companies’
