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Replying on WhatsApp after 24 hours

5 min read · #chat · #whatsapp · #customer service

What you see

You open a WhatsApp conversation on Monday morning. The customer wrote on Friday afternoon. The message box is grey, it says 24h window closed, send a template message, and a yellow notice above it says the customer has not messaged in the last 24 hours.

Nothing is broken and the conversation is not lost. You are simply outside the time WhatsApp allows for a free reply.

The rule

  • The 24 hours start at the customer's last message. Every new message from them starts the clock again.
  • Our messages do not move the clock. Sending something at hour 23 does not buy more time.
  • Inside the 24 hours you write whatever you like, send pictures and files, and react to messages.
  • Outside them, WhatsApp refuses everything except an approved template. Pictures, files, emoji reactions and the automatic greeting are refused too.
  • It applies to every business using WhatsApp through Meta. The WhatsApp app on a personal phone has no such limit, which is why it feels strange the first time.

The rule exists to stop businesses writing to people who stopped talking to them. A template is Meta's way of allowing one polite knock on the door.

Reopening the conversation

  1. On the yellow notice, press Pick the message. The small page icon under the message box opens the same list.
  2. Choose a message. For a customer who wrote while the office was closed, use the one that says we are back and asks them to message us again. Search by name if the list is long.
  3. Check the preview. Blanks such as the customer's first name are filled in from the contact where Aiku knows them; type any that are left.
  4. Press send.

The customer receives the message like any other. When they answer, the box unlocks and you give the real reply. If they never answer, the conversation stays template-only - that is the customer's choice and WhatsApp enforces it.

A few practical points:

  • The approved message cannot carry your actual answer. Its wording is fixed; only the blanks change.
  • Do not send the same template again and again to a silent customer. Meta counts blocks and reports against the shop's number, and a number with a poor rating gets its sending limit cut.
  • Meta charges the business for each template sent. Replies inside the 24 hours are free. One template to reopen a real enquiry is money well spent; use them with that in mind.
  • If the matter is urgent and the customer is on record, email or phone does not have this limit.

Writing a new approved message

This is not a programmer's job. Anyone who works the shop's chat inbox can write one; Meta, not Aiku, decides whether it is approved.

Go to your shop → Chat → settings → WhatsApp templates, and press New template.

  • Template name - lowercase letters, numbers and underscores. Customers never see it. Make it say what the message is for, because that is what your colleagues will search for in the list.
  • Template category - Utility for messages about an existing enquiry, order or account, which is what a "we are back" message is. Marketing for offers and news. The category cannot be changed afterwards.
  • Language - one template can exist in several languages under the same name. Write one for each language your customers write in.
  • Message - the text the customer receives. Add variable puts in a blank, such as the first name, and you give a sample value so the reviewer can see how it reads. A message that is nothing but a blank is rejected; there must be real wording around it.
  • Header, Footer and Buttons are optional. A reopening message rarely needs them.

Save as draft keeps it in Aiku where Meta cannot see it. Submit for review sends it to Meta. The answer usually comes within minutes and occasionally the next day. Only approved templates appear in the list in the conversation.

Once approved, the wording is fixed. Changing it means a new template and another review, so read it twice before you submit. If a template stays on pending for a long time, see When WhatsApp is not working.

What a good reopening message looks like

Short, honest about the delay, and ending with a clear request to write back - because the reply is what unlocks the conversation:

  • Greet the customer by first name.
  • Say their message arrived while the office was closed and that you are back.
  • Ask them to reply so you can continue.

No offers, no links to a sale. A Utility message that reads like advertising is recategorised by Meta as Marketing or rejected.

Common questions

Can we send an automatic message before the 24 hours run out, to keep the conversation open? No. Only the customer's messages move the clock, so it would change nothing.

Can Aiku switch the limit off? No. The refusal comes from WhatsApp itself. Aiku locks the box so that you are told before you type, instead of writing a reply that then fails.

The customer answered but the box is still locked. Reload the conversation. If it is still locked, check that the answer arrived in this conversation and not in a second one from another number.

The list of messages is empty. The shop has no approved template yet. Write one as described above; until Meta approves it, use email or phone.

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