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.
The city of Dallas is the county seat of Polk County, Oregon, United States. The population was 12,459 at the 2000 census, with an estimated population of 15,065 in 2007. Dallas is located on Rickreall Creek, approximately 15 miles west of Salem, at an altitude of 325 feet above sea level. It is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area.