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.
West Palm Beach, also known as West Palm, is the most populous city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida. West Palm's economy is currently ranked #4 in the Milken Institute Best Performing 296 U.S. Cities index. It is the county seat of Palm Beach County, and one of the principal cities in the South Florida metropolitan area, which has an estimated 2007 population of 5,413,212. The area is known as the West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach Metropolitan Division, which covers the entire Palm Beach County area. It is situated in the northernmost county of the South Florida metropolitan area.