The Trenton Times published the following article on February 7, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Mercer County wins court round in battle with Florida software maker

By Jenna Pizzi/The Times of Trenton 
on February 07, 2013 at 8:20 AM

Florida man says he is out of pocket more than $15,000 after Mercer County backed out of a software deal with him and a Superior Court judge sided with the county in the dispute.

Bernard Upshur, owner of InfoBid Corp., said his company spent hundreds of hours designing software that would allow Mercer County to accept bids from potential vendors online. He said he was about to fly to New Jersey to complete the installation when the county aborted the deal.

The deal fell apart after the county discovered that for greatest efficiency it would need to install a new server to handle the software, even though Upshur told county officials they could still use an existing server.

County spokeswoman Julie Willmot said Upshur had tried to victimize them by falsely representing the costs involved.

Willmot said InfoBid later required that the county provide an in-house server, additional labor and other hidden costs associated with the system.

“The county contends that as a result of the bait and switch tactic, InfoBid had in essence breached the terms of agreement before the project even commenced,” Willmot said.

Upshur denied having told the county that they would need to purchase a new computer or that they would need to spend more than $15,709 for the software and installation, which was what he bid for the job.

It was in July 2009 that InfoBid submitted a proposal to the county’s purchasing department for the software, Willmot said.

According to court documents, Upshur and the county agreed to a purchase order in Jan. 2011 and it was only after agreeing to and accepting the proposal that the county began to ask about additional requirements or cost.

Upshur said his company had promised to cover any extra costs that were needed to properly operate the system, according to court documents, but the county decided to put the project on hold anyway.

Superior Court Judge Patrick McManimon ruled in favor of the county, saying that InfoBid failed to show in court that a valid contract existed or that the county in some way breached the contract, Willmot said.

The judge dismissed the case, ruling in favor of the county last week.

An angry Upshur said he intends to appeal the ruling as far as necessary until he and his company are compensated for the hours of work put into building the software for the county.

Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717.