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.
Vineland is a city in Cumberland County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 56,271. Vineland, Millville and Bridgeton are the three principal New Jersey cities of the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses those three cities and all of Cumberland County for statistical purposes. Vineland was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on May 28, 1880, from portions of Landis Township, based on the results of a referendum held three days earlier. On July 1, 1952, Vineland borough and Landis Township were merged to form Vineland city, based on the results of a referendum held on February 5, 1952.