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.
Cresco is a city in Howard County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,905 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Howard County. Cresco is home to one of the largest school districts in Iowa in terms of square miles, the Howard-Winneshiek Community School District. The high school is called Crestwood High School. Crestwood Elementary/Junior High School are also in Cresco. Notre Dame Catholic School offers private education to elementary school students. Although Cresco is no longer on a railroad line, it is home to a restored Milwaukee Road FP7 diesel engine which is known as the Heritage Train and displayed in a park (Beadle Park) at the center of the city on Highway 9. A newspaper in the city is the weekly Cresco Times Plain Dealer, published on Wednesdays.