Problems with Sending Messages on WhatsApp
When a user reaches out about unusual message-sending failures and you're not sure how to proceed, follow the steps below.
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When a user reaches out about unusual message-sending failures and you're not sure how to proceed, follow the steps below. Always ask the user for a screenshot or a screen recording of every key step — they can easily miss something.
Step 1: Check Business Portfolio and WABA status
Go to the WhatsApp Manager partner home and check the status of the Business Portfolio and WABA.
- If the WABA is banned, the user can request a review in Meta Support Home.
- If the Business Portfolio isn't verified, ask the user to verify it. They can do this in Chatfuel → Settings → WhatsApp by uploading documents in the Chatfuel UI, or directly in Meta in Business Info settings. For more details on verification and other connection blockers, see Troubleshooting Phone Connection Issues.
- If neither the WABA nor the Business Portfolio can be found, it means Chatfuel no longer has access to them. Ask the user to reconnect their WABA and phone number.
Step 2: Verify the phone number exists
Manually verify that the failing phone number is a real WhatsApp account. Open https://wa.me/<phone_number> (replace <phone_number> with the actual number). Does it open a WhatsApp chat? If not, the user likely imported a non-existent number or entered the number in the wrong format.
Also keep in mind that messages may fail due to the 24-hour messaging window — if the conversation window has expired, the business cannot send free-form messages until the user writes again.
Step 3: Sync data in Chatfuel
Click the Sync data button in Chatfuel (found in Settings → WhatsApp) to refresh the connection state.
Step 4: Check CoEx number connection
Is Chatfuel connected to the number? Ask the user to open the WhatsApp Business app → Settings → Account → Business Platform and send a screenshot.
If Chatfuel is not listed as the connected platform, ask the user to reconnect the phone number to Chatfuel.
Step 5: Confirm the phone number is Active in WhatsApp Manager
In the user's WhatsApp Manager (open it via Chatfuel → Settings → WhatsApp → WhatsApp Manager), confirm the connected phone number status is Active.
If the status is not Active:
- Ask the user to open WhatsApp Account settings → Partners and remove Chatfuel from the partner list.
- Then go to Chatfuel → Settings → WhatsApp and reconnect the phone number.