WhatsApp error 130472: message not sent as part of an experiment
Error 130472 means a marketing template message was not sent because the recipient is in Meta's marketing message experiment. Meta's description is "Message was not sent as part of an experiment." A small percentage of WhatsApp users receive no marketing templates unless a customer service window or free entry point window is open. The message is not billed.
Meta's code for "Message was not sent as part of an experiment."
A marketing template withheld by the experiment is not sent and not charged.
Meta offers no exceptions or opt-outs for the experiment, which has no fixed end date.
What does WhatsApp error 130472 mean?
It means Meta withheld a marketing template because the recipient belongs to an experiment group.
Meta's experiments page explains that WhatsApp runs ongoing experiments to measure the effect of messaging on user experience. In the marketing message experiment, a very small percentage of WhatsApp users do not receive marketing template messages from any business unless a customer service window or a free entry point window is open with that business.
When you send a marketing template to such a user, WhatsApp does not send it and does not bill you. A status webhook arrives with status set to failed and error code 130472.
How do you reach a customer who triggers error 130472?
By getting them to message you first, which opens a customer service window.
Meta's experiments page is explicit that resending the template results in the same error. Its suggested route is to contact the user through some other, non WhatsApp channel and ask them to message you, so the template can be sent inside an open customer service window.
The experiment is limited to marketing templates. It applies to users in the group regardless of which business is sending, so nothing about your account, template or number caused it, and changing any of those does not help either.
How should an integration handle error 130472?
As a final state for that message, not as a failure to retry.
Because the error arrives through the status webhook rather than only in the send response, the handling belongs in the webhook processor. Mark the message as withheld by experiment, do not queue a retry, and keep it out of failure rate alarms so it does not look like a deliverability problem.
It is also worth separating in reporting. A campaign with a few 130472 results has not lost quality or reach through anything you did, and counting them alongside genuine failures makes the numbers harder to read.
Common mistakes
- Resending the template. Meta says resending returns the same error.
- Treating it as a quality problem. The experiment applies to a group of users for every business alike.
- Watching only the send response. The 130472 status arrives through the messages webhook.
EasyCoexistence routes the number's webhooks to the customer's own system as Meta sends them, so a failed status carrying 130472 reaches your handler with its error code intact.
Frequently asked questions
Am I charged for a message blocked with 130472?
No. Meta's experiments page says the message is not sent and you are not billed for it.
Can I opt my business out of the experiment?
No. Meta says no exceptions or opt-outs are available, and the experiment has no fixed end date.
Does error 130472 affect utility templates?
Meta describes the experiment as covering marketing template messages. It does not list other categories.
How can I still deliver the message?
Ask the customer, by another channel, to message you. Inside the open customer service window the template can be sent.
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