Disappearance has a run-up of roughly two to four weeks, and it always starts the same way: reply times lengthen while nothing viewable appears. Here they are in sequence, with the one action worth taking at each point.
Sign 1: Reply times lengthen
Minutes become hours, then a day. This is the earliest reliable signal because it appears before any deadline is missed — complaint accounts consistently describe this decay preceding silence.
What to do: ask for the staging link. Nothing else. If a link arrives, the project is real and slow. If it doesn’t, you’ve learned something in week one instead of week six.
Sign 2: Updates describe work instead of linking to it
“Working on it, sir” replaces “here’s the page.” A build in progress always exists somewhere shareable, so the substitution carries information.
What to do: “Could you send the link so I can see where it is?” One line, unarguable.
Sign 3: A staging link is promised and doesn’t arrive
Once is a busy week. Twice is the signal.
What to do: stop any outstanding payment. This is the first point where money should pause.
Sign 4: Reasons arrive without new dates
Festival, exam, another client’s urgent work, a server problem. Each may be true. What matters is whether a revised date comes attached — a reason without one is a stall rather than an explanation.
What to do: accept the reason, ask for the consequence. “Understood. What’s the new date for [deliverable], and can you send the link?”
Sign 5: 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 — that’s a different problem from execution running late.
What to do: put the request in writing with a deadline, and start planning an alternative.
Sign 6: More money is requested before anything viewable exists
Serious enough to act on alone. Complaint records document exactly this pattern: a mid-project demand to “continue,” with nothing to open.
What to do: do not pay. Reply in writing that further payment follows a viewable stage. Paying here is what turns a modest loss into a large one.
Sign 7: Replies only arrive after two follow-ups
By this point you’re managing the relationship rather than receiving a service, and the trajectory is set.
What to do: written escalation with a deadline, then a decision. Secure your domain and any files before announcing anything.
Reading your own position
| Signs present | Where you are | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 1 only | Possibly a busy week | Ask for the link |
| 1–3 | Drifting | Date and link in writing; hold payment |
| 1–5 | Estimate was never real | Stop paying; plan an alternative |
| 6 or 7 | Exit territory | Secure access, escalate in writing |
The log that makes this usable
Four columns in a phone note: date, what was promised, what arrived, reason given. Two minutes a week.
It does three things. It settles whether you’re being unreasonable — the list either shows a pattern or it doesn’t. It lets you quote specifics instead of complaining generally. And if this ends in a refund request, a legal notice or a complaint filing, a dated log of promises against deliveries is the strongest document you’ll hold.
What makes all seven 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 three rather than sign seven.
- Written scope — so you know precisely what wasn’t delivered.
With those, a vanishing at sign five costs a modest advance and three weeks. Without them it costs the domain, the season and a second purchase.
The fair caveat
Some capable developers are disorganised rather than dishonest. They finish, late, and the work is good.
The distinguishing test is progress you can see. Excuses attached to an advancing staging link are inconvenient. Excuses attached to nothing are this article. If real progress exists, extending the timeline in writing usually beats switching.
What to do this week
- Note which of the seven signs are present in your project.
- Start the four-column log, backdated from memory.
- Ask for the staging link in one plain message.
- Hold any outstanding payment until something is viewable.
- 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 up at sign one, not sign seven. Domain in your name, 30% advance, stage-linked balance. WhatsApp us; we reply in about five minutes between 9am and 7pm.
Related reading
- Worried your developer will disappear mid-project?
- When replies go from minutes to days
- They’re asking for more money to continue
- Your developer is ignoring you: the escalation ladder
FAQ
What are the first signs a web developer will disappear?
Reply times lengthening, updates that describe work instead of linking to it, and a staging link promised but never sent. All three appear before any deadline is missed.
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. Payment should follow stages you can open on your own phone.
Does a developer making excuses mean they’ll vanish?
Not on its own. Judge whether a revised date and a viewable link come attached. Excuses alongside visible progress are inconvenient; excuses attached to nothing are the pattern that precedes disappearance.
