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.
Stephens City is an incorporated town in southern part of Frederick County, Virginia, United States and is a part of the Winchester, Virginia-West Virginia Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,146 at the 2000 census, and estimated to be 1,446 in 2006. The town was founded by and named for Lewis Stephens in September of 1758. Stephens City is the second oldest in the Shenandoah Valley behind near by Winchester. The town celebrated its bicenquinquagenary, or 250th anniversary, on September 1, 2008. A large section of the center of the town is part of the Newtown-Stephensburg Historic District, a nationally recognized historic district.