In short: You can send a free-form message only within 24 hours of the customer’s last message. After that, only an approved template can be sent. Customers who get messages they don’t want can block or report you, which lowers your quality rating and can lead to restrictions.
When the 24-hour window closes
In the Inbox, a closed window shows a red lock and the composer is locked. To restart the conversation:
- Click Send message in the chat.
- Choose an approved template that fits the situation and send it.
- When the customer replies, the window opens again and you can write freely.
The window controls what you may send, not whether it’s free. See The 24-Hour Conversation Window.
How spam reports and blocks hurt you
A customer can report your business, block your number, or both. Each one lowers your quality rating. Watch for these signs:
- Quality rating drops from High to Medium to Low. The quality card on the Mumble main page turns orange, then red.
- More templates fail instead of being delivered.
- Templates are paused by Meta for 3 hours, then 6 hours, then disabled.
- Your messaging limit stops growing.
- The account is restricted. See Account Bans, Restrictions and Appeals.
How to reduce blocks
- Send only to customers who agreed to get messages from you.
- Keep marketing to 2-3 messages a month per customer.
- Add an opt-out button to every marketing template. See Opt-Out and Blacklist.
- Send each group only what’s relevant to it.
- If a campaign gets many blocks, don’t send the next one with the same text.
Block an abusive customer
- In the customer panel in the chat, switch the customer to Blocked so they get no more templates.
- Change the conversation status to Spam or Not Relevant.
- In serious cases, also block the number in Meta’s WhatsApp Manager.
Common questions
The customer wrote an hour ago, but the chat is still locked
Refresh the page and check that the message arrived. If it’s still locked after 5 minutes, contact support.
A template wasn’t delivered
The customer may have blocked you, the number may not be on WhatsApp or not in international format, or Meta’s limit on marketing per person was reached (error 131049). Meta also doesn’t deliver marketing templates to US (+1) numbers.
How do I know a customer blocked me?
WhatsApp doesn’t tell you. The sign is that templates to that customer stay at “sent” and never reach “delivered”.
Why was I charged for a reply inside the window?
Meta charges for messages inside the window too, after a free monthly allowance. See Paying Meta and WhatsApp Messaging Costs.