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.
Raymond (formerly, Wildcat Station) is an unincorporated community in Madera County, California. It is located 20 miles (32 km) north-northeast of Madera, at an elevation of 948 feet (289 m). Raymond has fewer than 1,000 residents. It is located approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of Madera at Green Mountain Road and Road 600. The community is part of the Madera–Chowchilla Metropolitan Statistical Area. The area was either named for T. Raymond of Raymond & Whitcomb Travel Association in San Francisco, or Walter Raymond of Raymond & Whitcomb Travel Association in Boston. Walter Raymond founded the Raymond Hotel in Pasadena in 1886. He planned the hotel and received money for its construction from his father Emmons Raymond, who was a stockholder in the Santa Fe Railroad. When the town of Raymond was dedicated, its residents approached Walter Raymond and offered to name the town after him if he would cut the ribbon at the ceremony. The first post office opened in 1886. The original name, Wildcat Station, was replaced by Raymond when the Southern Pacific Railroad reached the town in 1886. The ZIP Code is 93653. The community is inside area code 559.