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.
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley (Palm Springs area), in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 4,865. The city hosts the Indian Wells Masters (also known by its current sponsorship name of BNP Paribas Open), one of the nine tournaments in the Masters 1000 of high-level events operated by the Association of Tennis Professionals (i.e. , the men's tennis tour). The event is held in the 16,100-seat stadium of the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.