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.
Bitely (do to a typographical error it is sometimes misspelled Biteley) is an unincorporated community within Newaygo County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is within Lilley Township about one mile west of M-37 in the Manistee National Forest. It is near Bitely Lake, Lamoreaux Lake, Isaac Lake and several smaller lakes. It was a station on the Chicago and West Michigan Railroad in 1889, and given a post office on September 13, 1889, with Archer D. Martin as its first postmaster. It was named for Steven Bitely, who built a sawmill here, but do to a typographical error the post office was initially spelled as Biteley. Bitely is at 43°44′49″N 85°51′42″W / 43.74694°N 85.86167°W / 43.74694; -85.86167. The Bitely ZIP code is 49309, and also serves all of Lilley Township, as well as most of Troy Township to the west and Home Township to the east, and portions of Beaver Township to the southwest, Merrill Township to the south, Monroe Township to the southeast, Pleasant Plains Township to the north, and Yates Township to the northeast.