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.
Manchester, Maryland, is a small incorporated town in Northeastern Carroll County, Maryland located on the Eastern coast of the United States of America just South of the Pennsylvania State line and North of Baltimore, Maryland. The population was 3,329 at the 2000 census making it the 21st most populous town in Maryland. Manchester was incorporated in 1834 and is the second oldest incorporated area in Carroll County after Westminster, Maryland, which was incorporated in 1818. The town was originally formed as a part of Baltimore County, Maryland, before the creation of Carroll County in 1837. It is governed by an elected mayor and an elected five person town council. Manchester lies in the humid continental climate region, marked by cold and snowy winters but humid and hot summers. This climate is ideal for growing farmed crops in the summer such as sweet corn and squash, leaving much of the outlying area marked with large tracts of farmland. Manchester is a rural commuting town where residents travel to work in the greater Baltimore Metropolitan Area.