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.
Cougar is a former town, and now unincorporated community, in Cowlitz County, Washington, United States. The population was 122 at the 1990 census; it was not measured in 2000. The town is located on the Lewis River, 24 miles northeast of Woodland. Because it is situated only 11 miles south-southwest of Mount St. Helens, in 1980 the entire town was evacuated because of the danger of volcanic eruption. Cougar’s geographic location is 46.051N, -122.298W. The town’s ZIP code is 98616 and its telephone area code is 360.