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.
Prairie Creek (also Middletown) is an unincorporated community in southeastern Prairie Creek Township, Vigo County, Indiana, United States. It lies at the intersection of State Roads 63 and 246 southwest of the city of Terre Haute, the county seat of Vigo County. Its elevation is 531 feet (162 m), and it is located at 39°16′30″N 87°29′50″W / 39.275°N 87.49722°W / 39.275; -87.49722 (39.2750390, -87.4972443). Because the community has had multiple names, the Board on Geographic Names officially decided in favor of "Prairie Creek" in 1959. Although Prairie Creek is unincorporated, it has a post office, with the ZIP code of 47869. The community is part of the Terre Haute Metropolitan Statistical Area.