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.
Sugarloaf is a unincorporated residential area less than a mile south of Big Bear City and 8 miles from the eastern tip of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains of San Bernardino County, California. The area is primarily residential with a convenience store and a bar located at the center of the community. The residential area is set at an elevation of 7,096 feet at its center, whereas its extreme northern border is 6,998 feet above sea level and the southern tip sits at 7,218 feet above sea level. There is no municipal organization for the area, and all fire, water, and police service is provided by San Bernardino County. The ZIP code for the community is 92386, the area code 909, and the population is 1,816. Big Bear High School is located in the northern part of the community. The name of the town is taken from the nearby mountain, Sugarloaf. The mountain is so called because it appeared to some to bear a resemblance to a sugarloaf. (In settlement days sugar was sold in pieces of a loaf.)