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.
Camino is an unincorporated town in El Dorado County, California, and has a population of 4,961. According to the USGS, it lies at an elevation of 3133 feet (955 m). Nearby cities and towns include Pollock Pines, Placerville, Diamond Springs, El Dorado, Grizzly Flats, Somerset, Coloma, Garden Valley, Cameron Park, Shingle Springs, and Lotus. The elevation of Camino ranges between 3,000 and 3,500 feet, and gets snow several times per year. Camino is a popular area in the fall for apples and is often incorrectly referred to as Apple Hill, which is the trademarked name of the Apple Hill Growers Association, a 55 member collection of ranches in Camino/Placerville/Pollock Pines. Camino is located about half way between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe on U.S. Route 50. The first post office was opened in 1904; the ZIP code is 95709. The community is inside area code 530.