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.
Ridgefield is a city in the pastoral, rolling-hills countryside of northern Clark County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,147 at the 2000 census. Ridgefield is notable for the significant Native American and Lewis and Clark Expedition history of the area, but is also the home of the beautiful and verdant Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, a primary reserve for migrating waterfowl on the Pacific Flyway, and the somewhat oddly-named Ridgefield High School "Spudders" (reflecting the area's potato-farming heritage). The city is home to several annual community events, such as their old-fashioned Fourth of July Celebration, and also holds a bird festival that attracts bird lovers from around the region and beyond. While the town of Ridgefield is in itself relatively modest in size, the geographic area that is locally also called Ridgefield is quite a bit larger, extending from the Columbia River to its immediate west, the Lewis River to the north, several miles past Interstate 5 to the east, and south nearly to Vancouver, Washington, encompassing both the Clark County Fairgrounds and the Amphitheater at Clark County .