Image by rickz via FlickrI've seen my share of 'last minute' craziness for vendors to get their proposals accepted (here's the most common & why they don't work):1) Speeding down the highway - I don't recommend putting lives at stake for a proposal - besides the potential accidents/tickets, if you get there even 1 second late - you'll have wasted all that gas for nothing. Legally, I can't accept your late proposal, no matter how mad/frustrated you get. Regardless of the threats of calling your MLA, I will not put my organization at risk of being sued by everyone else that did submit on time.
2) Calling with excuses - I've heard my share of sobstories, and I feel for your adorable little nephew who recently came down with leukemia - but again, it's not my cold-heart telling you I cannot accept your proposal after the closing, it's the courts. A bid even one second late is non-compliant (see #1 above).
3) E-mail - our legal department decided that email isn't legally binding, so I cannot accept your emailed version of the hardcopy proposal that is enroute via courier. There are 'some' organizations that accept emails, but unless it's written in the RFP as an accepted method of delivery, the email proposal is non-compliant.
4) Faxes - yes a faxed signature is legally accepted in Canada. However, the issue with fax machines is missing pages, paper jams, a single phone line for multiple uses - so generally, no, we won't accept a 50+page proposal via fax...again, any exceptions will be noted in the RFP document, but as a general rule, only tenders/bids/quotes of 1-5 pages are accepted by fax.
5) Bad Weather - I've worked with various public sector organizations in BC since 1999, and in that time, they've NEVER extended the closing date of an RFP due to bad weather conditions on the day of the closing. In fact, I've been told, the only time the BC Purchasing Commission extended the closing date of proposals due to bad weather was during the "1996 snow storm" (it shut down ferries, collapsed roofs, etc). So if you're having difficulties due to weather on the morning of the RFP closing, it is unlikely you will get an extention - especially if the organization already received proposals yesterday from the people who paid attention to the weather channel.
1 comment:
I recall trying to submit a proposal by mail, when I should have just brought it in personally. I mailed it on Fort St. to Broughton St. with four business days lead-time and it didn't get there in time. I was so mad with Canada Post at the time! Taught me not to rely on the mail, when I can hand something over in person!
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