Bamboozled: Homeowner and destroyed driveway stuck in squabble between paving firm ex-partners

October is a great time of year to have work done on your driveway.

Joan Krotenberg knows that, and a year ago this month, she hired North Jersey Paving and Construction to do work at her Livingston home. She ended up with an ill-fixed driveway that led to finger-pointing and a multi-state family squabble that ended up in divorce court.

Her driveway remains in limbo.

"They laid asphalt on my existing driveway. The owner, James Gorman, came to see my driveway shortly thereafter, agreed that there were problems and offered to seal coat the following year, which would be now," Krotenberg said. "He does not answer my phone calls. He completely ignores me."

She said she paid $2,500 for the job, but now the driveway needs to be ripped up and redone, at an estimated cost of $4,500.

Krotenberg filed a complaint with the Division of Consumer Affairs in August, and the case went to a mediator.

The mediator reached out to Gorman, who on Sept. 2 promised he would stop by Krotenberg's home "to see what he could do," email correspondence showed.

But by Sept. 8, Gorman didn't call or stop by, Krotenberg said.

The following day, the mediator said he'd call Gorman to give him another chance.

Then the mediator learned something new. Gorman had a partner named William Mesker, who recently bought Gorman out of the business, Mesker said, because of other customer complaints.

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Bamboozled: Homeowner and destroyed driveway stuck in squabble between paving firm ex-partners