Consumer protection refers to the laws designed to aid retail consumers of goods and services that have been improperly manufactured, delivered, performed, handled, or described. Such laws provide the retail consumer with additional protections and remedies not generally provided to merchants and others who engage in business transactions, on the premise that the consumers do not enjoy a sufficient bargaining position with respect to the businessmen with whom they deal and therefore should not be strictly limited by the legal rules that govern recovery for damages among businessmen. The overarching goal is to protect individuals and the interest of the public in general from unfair and misleading activity in business and commerce (such as false advertising and deceptive trade practices) and scams perpetrated by criminals (such as identity theft and pyramid schemes) that harm a substantial number of consumers.
Berry Creek (formerly, Berry Valley) is an unincorporated community about 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Oroville, California in hilly terrain at 1,995 feet (608 m) above mean sea level. The community is located along Oroville-Quincy Highway on the shore of Madrone Lake. The US Geological Survey shows coordinates of 39°38′43″N 121°24′12″W / 39.64528°N 121.40333°W / 39.64528; -121.40333 for the town. The community is home to Berry Creek Elementary School (K-8). Berry Creek is inside Area code 530 and wired phone numbers follow the format (530) 589-xxxx. The community's ZIP code is 95916, and is shared with the community of Brush Creek, (which is about four miles or six kilometers east on Oroville-Quincy Highway). There is a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection fire station at an area called Harts Mill just south of the community. This is a historic name for a community once located at 39°37′25″N 121°26′08″W / 39.62361°N 121.43556°W / 39.62361; -121.43556. Harts Mill was probably a mining community named for a stamp mill. The USGS lists a variant name of Virginia Mill for the area.