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.
Rhineland is a village in Montgomery County, Missouri, United States. The population was 176 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a town. Its name came from German immigrants from the River Rhine area. Located on the north bank of the Missouri River, Rhineland was devastated by water in the Great Flood of 1993. It became the first town to accept federal funds to move out of a flood plain. All the houses in the town were moved about 1½ miles uphill.