Dear editor:

This is to advise that we take exception to the derogatory reporting about our company in the Oct. 20 issue of The Maroon (“Scooter sales revving up,” page 1). Although we realize Alison Sickle is simply a student, and a contributing writer for your publication, we would think that the first lesson in a journalism class, and your responsibility as editor, is to verify your facts before publication, and to report both sides of a story.

First, the picture on the front page depicts Sally Tunmer on a “Vespa”, when in fact it is a Venice Twist N’Go Scooter, our product. Secondly, in the next picture, the caption reads “David Forley … alongside his inventory at his story on Sophie Wright” when the fact is that Mr. Forley is our mechanic and has no ownership position in Scooter-Ria. Lastly, it is inconceivable to us that Ms. Sickle would quote one unsatisfied customer, for whom, by the way, we have bent over backwards to assist and even performed some services for Borders at no charge, when the truth of the matter is Ms. Borders caused a number of her own problems.

Ms. Sickle also neglected to mention that Ms. Tunmer, shown on the front page, is, to the best of our knowledge, a very satisfied customer, and that Ms. Sickle herself owns one of our scooters and has never voiced anything but satisfaction with her purchase.

We are at a loss to explain why Ms. Sickle would choose to give such a damaging report from one customer. We have more than 300 scooters on the streets of New Orleans and can give you a long list of positive testimonials. As a part of the small business community struggling to survive in a city trying to rebuild itself, we feel Ms. Sickle’s one-sided article is very unprofessional and damaging. More importantly, as an alumnus of Loyola University, I would have expected at the very least to be treated fairly.

Steven A. Lopez

Owner, Scooter-Ria