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.
Mineral is a small town in Lewis County, Washington just off State Route 7 near the Pierce/Lewis county line. Mineral originally began as a logging camp, then became a full-fledged town. Mineral has an event center, a post office, two churches, one general store, one tavern, a cafe, a log lodge a resort with fishing docks and boat/pontoon rentals and two bed and breakfast facilities. Mineral is the location from which the Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad now operates.