Freelance dispute

[a765b8f0]

Freelance built website last year but this has now expired and they wont provide the log in detalis to renew the namecheap subscription. Now website is offline and email not working so cant do business

[richardrader]

Did the freelancer register the domain for you on their own namecheap account? Typically if a domain needs to be registered it should be done on your own account. Unfortunatly there is nothing you can do except continue to reach out to the freelancer but I would try the "forgot password" link in case you set it up on your account and just forgot the login details. You won't be able to dispute anything since the contract has been closed for quite some time. In the future always register domains on your own account or give the login to the freelancer so they can add the domain to your account.

Also check your messages. Perhaps they gave the login details to you through UpWork messenger? Try searching for "login", "username", "password", "namecheap". You might be able to find it that way.

[prestonhunter]

re: "Freelance built website last year but this has now expired and they wont provide the log in detalis to renew the namecheap subscription. Now website is offline and email not working so cant do business"

Mango:
I can assure you that Upwork does not have the login details that you need.

You made mistakes, as a client, by not securing these details and making sure that you were the primary contact for this website, and making sure that you would receive the host company's notifications of impending service expiration.

You want to make sure that you have complete control over TWO things, which are often (but not always) handled by two different companies:

- domain name registry

- web hosting account

You should ALSO have your website source code and core database archived in your own private code repository or file archive, which is not associated with the web hosting company.

Regardless of the outcome of this particular experience, you will want to do that in the future. Even if it means paying freelance web developers for some extra time in order to train you in these matters, or alternatively hiring other freelancers to help you do this.

Richard R. already gave you great advice about what to do in your CURRENT situation. Filing a "freelance dispute" is of no use to you in your current predicament. The way forward is to reach out to the freelancer who previously worked on this project to see if he can help you AND to contact the hosting company.

It is possible (but not guaranteed) that the freelancer who worked on this earlier will be able to help you. But you should ONLY attempt to contact that freelancer if the first thing in your message is an offer to hire and pay the freelancer for helping you:

"Jason: Can I hire you with a new hourly contract to help me with my website? The site was working well for me, but hosting account has expired. I am hoping that I can pay you to help me renew it and possibly update contact information to be in my name. I am also interested if you have backups/archives of the source code files which I can pay you to help me secure in an archive of my own."

[simone1984]

Unfortunately this happens (and too often). Not just with Freelancers but Agencies as well. 

Rule #1: Domain & Hosting are Client's property and Clients should register their accounts to keep the property. Never trust someone that does that for you 'cause you don't know what will happen if and when you want to stop working with that Freelancer/Agency.

Said so, first thing I would do is to check the Domain registration through a whois. If it is registered under your name or company name, contact Namecheap customer service, they are really good and swift.

Explain the situation and request access since you are the owner, it shouldn't be a big issue.

All the best

[prestonhunter]

What if the freelancer is 100% trustworthy?

What if that freelancer would ALWAYS help you out and ALWAYS do the right thing?

That's great.

What if the freelancer dies?

Now the freelancer is dead and you have no way of updating your payment information for the website, and no way of making any changes.

So, yes... You need to make sure you secure those credentials for yourself.