Disappearance has a run-up of roughly two to four weeks. Tick the boxes below — four are visible before you pay, six appear during the build, and each one has a specific action attached.
Not one of these on its own proves anything. The pattern is what matters, and the score band at the end tells you where you actually are.
Before you pay: four signs
☐ 1. An advance of half or more
The single strongest predictor of a bad outcome, because it transfers the risk to you before anything exists. And refund policies are near-universally absent in this market, so plan on bounding the loss rather than recovering it.
→ Action: counter with 20–30%. Their reaction is informative.
☐ 2. Payment to a personal account with no invoice
No paper trail, no registered entity, no traceable identity.
→ Action: ask for a GST invoice, or a written bill on letterhead if they’re below the threshold. Check the account holder name your UPI app shows before confirming.
☐ 3. Resistance on domain ownership
Deflections to recognise: “we manage it for all our clients” · “it’s technical, don’t worry” · “it’s in your name, in our account” — the last is the most misleading, because the registrant record and the account are different things.
→ Action: register the domain yourself before hiring. Then this stops mattering.
☐ 4. An instant price with no questions about your business
If the number arrives before anyone asks what the site is for, the price is fixed and your scope will be trimmed to fit it.
→ Action: send a named page list and ask them to quote that specifically.
During the build: six signs, in the order they appear
☐ 5. Reply times lengthen
Minutes → hours → a day. The earliest reliable signal, and it appears before any deadline is missed.
→ Action: ask for the staging link. Nothing else yet.
☐ 6. Updates describe work instead of linking to it
“Working on it, sir” replacing “here’s the page.” A build in progress always exists somewhere shareable.
→ Action: “Could you send the link so I can see where it is?”
☐ 7. A staging link is promised and doesn’t arrive
Once is a busy week. Twice is the signal.
→ Action: stop any outstanding payment. This is the first point where money should pause.
☐ 8. Reasons arrive without new dates
Festival, exam, another client, a server problem. Each may be true — what matters is whether a revised date comes attached.
→ Action: accept the reason, ask for the consequence: “Understood. What’s the new date for [deliverable], and can you send the link?”
☐ 9. A second revised date slips
A first slip is normal on almost every project. When the revised date also moves, the estimate was never achievable.
→ Action: written request with a deadline, and start planning an alternative.
☐ 10. More money is requested before anything viewable exists
Serious enough to act on alone. Complaint records document this exact pattern — a mid-project demand to “continue,” with nothing to open.
→ Action: do not pay. Reply in writing that further payment follows a viewable stage.
Score it
| Signs ticked | Where you are | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 0–1 | Normal. Possibly a busy week | Ask for the staging link |
| 2–3 | Drifting | Date and link in writing; hold the next payment |
| 4–5 | The estimate was never real | Stop paying; plan an alternative |
| 6+, or 7 / 10 present | Exit territory | Secure access, escalate in writing |
Signs 7 and 10 override the count. Either one alone justifies stopping payment.
The log that makes this usable
Open a phone note. Four columns: date · what was promised · what arrived · reason given. Two minutes a week.
Three things come of it. You stop wondering whether you’re being unreasonable — the list either shows a pattern or it doesn’t. You can quote specifics instead of complaining generally, which changes how the conversation goes. And if this ends in a refund request or a claim, a dated log of promises against deliveries is the strongest document you’ll hold.
What makes all ten survivable
The signs tell you when. These four decide what it costs:
☐ Domain registered in your own account before hiring — so their exit doesn’t take your business name
☐ Advance of 20–30% — so the loss is bounded
☐ Payments against stages you can open — so you stop at sign 7 rather than sign 10
☐ Written scope — so you know precisely what wasn’t delivered
With those, a vanishing at sign 9 costs a modest advance and three weeks. Without them, it costs the domain, the season and a second purchase — which is why the fear feels disproportionate. It’s tracking the exposure, not the probability.
Three things that are not warning signs
Being fair, because buyers eliminate good vendors on these:
Working from home without an office. Many capable developers do. Offices are rentable by the month and aren’t correlated with delivery.
Being young. Skill and reliability aren’t age-dependent. Judge the structure of the deal.
A low price. Cheap isn’t dishonest — it’s a volume-and-template model. It does mean less attention and often a vendor-held domain, which you manage with terms rather than suspicion.
Also worth discounting: a high star rating. NCR agency ratings cluster at 4.4–4.9 across large review counts, including firms with complaint histories elsewhere.
The distinction that matters most
Some genuinely capable developers are badly organised rather than dishonest. They’ll finish, late, and the work will be good.
The test is progress you can see. Excuses attached to an advancing staging link are inconvenient. Excuses attached to nothing are this page. If real progress exists, extending the timeline in writing usually beats switching — switching mid-build has its own cost and delay.
What to do this week
- Tick the ten and count your score.
- Start the four-column log, backdated from memory.
- Ask for the staging link in one plain message.
- Hold any outstanding payment until something viewable exists.
- Confirm the domain is already in your own account.
If you want it done the certain way
You get a staging link from the first build day and twice-weekly updates with a link attached — so drift shows at sign 5, not sign 10. Domain in your name, 30% advance, stage-linked balance. WhatsApp us; we reply in about five minutes between 9am and 7pm.
Related reading
- 7 early warning signs a developer is about to vanish
- Worried your developer will disappear mid-project?
- How to spot a developer who might disappear
- Developer not responding? Exact messages to send
- The 12-point safety checklist before you pay
FAQ
What are the signs a web developer is about to disappear?
Before paying: a large advance demand, payment to a personal account without an invoice, resistance on domain ownership, and an instant price with no questions. During the build: lengthening replies, updates without links, a promised staging link that never arrives, reasons without new dates, a second slipped deadline, and a request for more money before anything is viewable.
At what point should I stop paying a web developer?
When a staging link has been promised twice and not delivered, or when more money is requested before anything viewable exists. Either one alone justifies pausing regardless of the other signs.
Does a developer working from home mean they’re risky?
No. Many capable developers work without an office, and an office is rentable by the month. Judge the terms of the deal — domain ownership, advance size, stage-linked payments — not the premises.
How do I make a developer disappearing less damaging?
Register the domain in your own account before hiring, keep the advance to 20–30%, tie payments to stages you can open on your phone, and get scope in writing. Those four turn a catastrophe into a bounded loss.
