The main thing I used this deal for to start with was the multi-agent inbox. I was using it so I could WhatsApp prospects who had come in via a Facebook lead ad form. I liked the idea it was all from one interface, with a view to bringing in another person in the future to take over processing the leads.

We initially got set up, albeit message templates were set up in Spanish, however, they did change this when I spotted it. Not before it had gone out to prospects though.

Then, our number got banned, so I spoke with meta support and quickly resolved this.

We were informed we needed to use WhatsApp API and were subsequently set up using the WhatsApp API by the support team of the multi-user inbox.

I was using it for nearly a month and besides support links and there website is in Spanish, which was annoying at times, it was all running great.

Until 2 days ago when it all stopped working.

Suddenly, we couldn’t send or receive WhatsApp messages. We had multiple conversations going on with prospects worth thousands to our business and I spent all day messaging their support to find out what was going on.

After many tortuous hours, I was eventually told WhatsApp had banned our number.

Hmmm. funny that, because Meta’s interface told me otherwise. According to Meta, our number had a High-quality rating and was active.

As the day went on, I was eventually told that I can’t continue using the app unless I pay 54 euros/month. Meta had changed their pricing and therefore they couldn’t offer this service anymore as part of the deal.

If I sign up for their 54 euros/month deal then they could resolve this and my number would be “re-enabled”.

Really!

I subsequently told them, that after my experience over the past 24 hours, I would certainly not be becoming a ‘paid’ customer.

I get that Meta now changing their pricing has impacted their deal and it’s probably not now sustainable long term.

However, the pricing had not come into effect yet (June 1st according to Meta’s website) so why was my number cut off during a live Facebook marketing campaign, when I was using WhatsApp to communicate with the prospects!

I’ve since had my account locked, even though the number wasn’t usable and now I can’t access any of the conversation histories with the prospects I was speaking to.

A complete shambles!

The whole experience has put me off testing the WhatsApp widget which is what I was going to do next, so it's a refund for me!