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.
Telford is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Tennessee, United States, between Jonesborough and Limestone. Originally, Millwood was the name of the Telford area, according to the map of Washington County, Tennessee Post Offices (1796-1900). The community was called Millwood in early times and continued so for many years. It was not until 1855, when Colonel George Whitfield Telford donated about four acres of land to support local operations of the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad, that the name Millwood was changed to Telford Depot. At a date sometime after 1876 the word "Depot" was discontinued and the single name Telford adopted. Col. George Whitfield Telford, was a major influence in the development of the county. He operated the Telford Manufacturing Company and also served as a state senator. Telford is located in the Eastern Standard Time Zone at a latitude of 36.248N and a longitude of -82.545W. The elevation is 1,555 feet. The community is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region. During the Civil War, citizens of this part of Washington County voted to secede from the Confederacy, but they were unsuccessful in persuading others to do so. The independent nation called "Bricker's Republic" was soon left to relative obscurity.