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.
Clarkston is a city in Asotin County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Washington. It is part of the Lewiston ID-WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,337 in 2000. In 1993, Walla Walla Community College opened a Branch Campus in Clarkston that serves the surrounding area, Lewiston, Idaho. It is still a major draw for the surrounding area. With a ZIP code of 99403, Clarkston has the highest zip code of any area in the contiguous United States.