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.
Lake Grove is a village in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 10,250 at the 2000 census. The Village of Lake Grove is located in the Town of Brookhaven. Lake Grove is well known as a popular commercial area in Suffolk county, including stores and attractions such as the Smith Haven Mall, Trader Joe's, Ben's, Zan's, and other large chain stores including Steve and Barry's. Additional stores and attractions are located nearby in Nesconset, Stony Brook and South Setauket, including Costco, Borders Bookstore, an AMC Lowes movie theater, Target, Best Buy, and Home Depot. The village features a number of different styles and prices of housing, including many well-maintained developments such as Crestwood Forest, Lake Grove Estates, Country Pointe, The Pines, Brittany Hills, and Country Woods. The village also has a number of parks, recreational facilities, and a nature preserve for residents to enjoy. Some areas within the Lake Grove zip code, such as the Hathaway Oaks development and parts of the Brittany Hills development, are actually located in the unincorporated hamlets of Lake Ronkonkoma and Nesconset, within the towns of Brookhaven and Smithtown respectively.