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.
Prescott is a city in Pierce County, Wisconsin at the confluence of the St. Croix River and Mississippi River. The population was 3,764 at the 2000 census, making it the second-largest city in the county after River Falls, and the largest entirely within Pierce County. Prescott was home to the mother house of the Franciscan Servants of Jesus. The town was first settled by (and named for) Philander Prescott, who opened a trading post here in 1839.