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.
Crane is an unincorporated community in Harney County, Oregon, United States, northeast of Malheur Lake on Oregon Route 78. Crane was named for the prominent local features Crane Creek and Crane Creek Gap. Crane Creek Gap is the pass between the Harney Basin and the drainage basin of the South Fork Malheur River. Crane Creek is probably named for the Sandhill Crane, which was once abundant in Eastern Oregon. Crane post office was established in 1895 and discontinued in 1903. When the Union Pacific railroad was completed from Ontario, Oregon in 1916, the post office was reopened. Until the railroad was finished to Burns in 1924, Crane was an important livestock shipping point, and the town was thriving with its five restaurants, four hotels, three garages, two general merchandise stores, a warehouse, a lumber yard, livery stables, a dance hall, a newspaper, a bank and a movie theater. After a series of fires, the latest in 1938, however, the town never returned to its former prosperity. Today a post office, a service station/tavern, and a farm supply store are the only businesses in Crane.