I think the problem lies in the fact there are so few scooters, and obviously far less dedicated scooter dealers.
There are a few shops in Tallahassee that sell scoots but only one scooter only shop. That shop had their fresh out of high school son as their mechanic, and honestly he could not spell scooter in the beginning.
The motorcycle shops all put "the new kid" on scooters, and they are just as bad. I've been a mechanic my entire life, and I can count all the great mechanics I have met on the fingers/toes I have. Most just take these jobs because they can't hack Mickey D's, and wind up working for whatever city they live in working on lawn mowers/weed wackers.
Your point about the forum(s) is validated mainly because of the vast pool of combined experience we have.
What puzzles me is the fact there are not more qualified mechanics on this or other scooter forums. B&L is the ONLY full time scooter mechanic (that I know of) on this forum. I think it is a GREAT thing he is doing here, both for the membership, and his career. If more shops had guys that followed his lead... There would be no need for the forum.
If I didn't find Kymco forum I would have junked my bike the first time it broke, and I had to pay 70.00 bucks for a CDI.
I imagine the same could be said for most if not all of the membership here.