Thirty auto replies below, grouped by the situation that triggers them, all written to be pasted and edited rather than admired. Square brackets are the bits you replace. Every one of them is short, because a long automatic message reads as a wall and gets skipped.
Two rules run through all of them. Say when a human will reply, and give one route to an answer that does not involve waiting. An auto reply that does neither is just a receipt.
Where these go in WhatsApp
- •Greeting message fires on a first message, or after a long gap. Use one of numbers 1 to 4.
- •Away message fires outside your stated hours. Use 5 to 7, or 24 to 25 over a holiday.
- •Quick replies are the ones you trigger yourself with a shortcut while typing. Most of the list below lives here: order status, pricing, appointments, escalation.
- •On the WhatsApp Business Platform (the API, rather than the app) anything you send outside the window that opens when a customer last messaged you has to be a pre-approved template. Write these as your templates, keep the brackets as variables, and expect approval to reject anything that looks promotional.
Greeting messages
1. General first contact
```
Hi! Thanks for messaging [Business].
Someone will reply here shortly.
If it's quick, the answer may already be here: [link]
```
2. With a menu, for higher volume
```
Hi, you've reached [Business]. So we can get you to the right person:
1 - Order or booking
2 - Prices and availability
3 - Something has gone wrong
4 - Something else
Reply with a number, or just type your question.
```
3. One-person business
```
Hey, thanks for getting in touch. I'm [Name] and I'll pick this up as soon as I'm off the shop floor - usually within the hour.
```
4. No menu, clear expectation
```
Thanks for your message. We read every one here, in the order they arrive.
Weekdays we're usually back within [2 hours].
```
After-hours messages
5. Plain and short
```
Thanks for messaging. We're closed now and open again at [9am tomorrow].
Leave the details here and we'll answer first thing.
```
6. After-hours with self-service
```
We're shut for the evening, back at [9am].
If you need something now, [link] has opening hours, parking, the full menu and our cancellation policy.
```
7. Weekend
```
Thanks for this. Nobody's in until Monday morning.
Your message is in the queue and we'll get to it then. If it's urgent and about a booking you already have, call [number].
```
Order status
8. Asking for the one thing you need
```
Happy to check that.
Send us your order number - it starts with [#AB] - and we'll tell you exactly where it is.
```
9. Pointing at tracking first
```
Live tracking is here: [link]
If that page hasn't moved in 48 hours, reply here and we'll chase the courier ourselves.
```
10. A delay you already know about
```
Heads-up: orders placed [last Thursday] are running about [two days] late because of [a supplier hold].
If yours was one of those, it's still on its way and you don't need to do anything. Placed later than that? Send the order number and we'll check it properly.
```
Pricing
11. Published prices
```
Our rates are all here: [link]
They include [VAT and delivery], so the number on the page is the number you pay.
```
12. Quote-based work
```
We can't give a flat price for [this] - it depends on size and access.
Three things and we'll quote properly:
- •what, and where
- •when you need it
- •any photos you already have
```
13. Price list plus a human
```
Standard pricing: [link]
Tell us roughly what you need and we'll come back with an actual figure rather than a range.
```
Appointments and bookings
14. Booking request
```
You can see live availability and book yourself in here: [link]
If nothing there suits, tell us which days work and we'll find something.
```
15. Confirmation
```
You're booked: [Tuesday 14 May, 3pm] with [Name].
Where to come and where to park: [link]
Need to move it? Reply here any time up to [24 hours] before, no charge.
```
16. Reschedule
```
No problem, we can move that.
Send two or three days that work for you and we'll confirm one back.
```
Complaints
An auto reply to a complaint has one job: stop the customer having to wonder whether anyone read it. Keep it to two lines and make a person follow it fast.
17. Immediate acknowledgement
```
Sorry - that isn't what should have happened.
A person is reading this now. Give us [20 minutes] and you'll get a real answer rather than a holding message.
```
18. Named owner
```
Thanks for telling us. That's a fair complaint and we're not going to argue it.
[Name] has it personally and will reply here by [5pm today] with what we're doing.
```
Delayed response
19. Still working on it
```
Still on this, sorry for the wait. [Name] has your case and is waiting on [the warehouse].
We'll update you by [tomorrow lunchtime] either way, even if we don't have the answer yet.
```
20. Unusually busy
```
We're slower than normal today - a lot of messages and two of us in.
You're in the queue and you haven't been forgotten. Roughly [90 minutes].
```
21. Apology for a long gap
```
This has sat far too long and that's on us. Sorry.
[Name] is picking it up now and will reply here within the hour.
```
Escalation
22. Handing to someone senior
```
This needs someone with more authority than me, so I'm passing it to [Name], who looks after [returns].
They have the whole thread, so you won't have to explain it twice. They'll reply here by [tomorrow, 11am].
```
23. Wrong channel for the problem
```
I can't fix this one over chat - it needs [your account verified in person].
Two options: call [number] and we'll do it in five minutes, or reply CALL ME with a good time and we'll ring you.
```
Holidays and closures
24. Full closure
```
We're closed for [Diwali] and back on [Monday 4 November].
Nobody is reading messages until then. Orders placed now will go out on the 4th.
Opening hours and our returns window: [link]
```
25. Skeleton staff
```
We're on a skeleton team until [2 January]. Replies will be slow - think a day, not an hour.
Bookings you already have are unaffected. Anything urgent on one of those, call [number].
```
Out of stock or unavailable
26. Temporary
```
[The oat milk one] is out of stock until around [the 18th].
Want us to message you the day it lands? Reply YES and we will - once, not repeatedly.
```
27. Discontinued
```
We've stopped making [that model], so it isn't coming back.
The nearest thing we do now is [X]. It differs in one way worth knowing: [the honest difference]. Full spec: [link]
```
Thank-you messages
28. After you fix something
```
Glad that's sorted, and thanks for bearing with us while we worked it out.
If anything else comes up, message here - the thread stays, so we'll have the history.
```
29. After an order
```
Thanks for your order! The confirmation is in your email.
Anything you need before it arrives, just ask here.
```
30. After a review or referral
```
Thank you for the review. It makes more difference to a business our size than you'd think.
We've passed it to [Name], who did the work.
```
What an auto reply must never do
Four failures, roughly in order of how much damage they cause.
Pretend to be a person. If the message went out without anyone reading the chat, it must not be signed as though someone did. "I've looked at your account and..." sent by a rule is a lie the customer will catch the moment their next message gets the same reply. Say "automatic reply" or write it so it plainly is one. People accept automation. They do not accept being fooled by it.
Loop. The customer answers your menu with a question your menu does not cover, so the menu fires again. Three of those and they are gone. Any menu needs a path for "none of these", and no auto reply should ever fire twice in the same conversation.
Dead-end. No route to a person, no link, no number, no stated time. A message that says only "we have received your enquiry" has told the customer nothing they did not already know.
Promise a time you will not keep. "Within 15 minutes" at 9pm is worse than silence, because silence does not break anything. Put your realistic worst case in the message, not your best case.
Two smaller things worth getting right. Do not ask for information already visible in the thread, which is the fastest way to prove nobody read it. And do not open with "Your query is important to us", "We thank you for reaching out" or "Please be informed that" - all three announce that a machine wrote the message and none carries information.
Fill these in before you paste anything
Every message above has brackets, and the brackets are the whole point. The four that matter:
| Bracket | What goes in it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| [time] | A real figure you can hit on your worst day | The only part the customer actually reads |
| [Name] | A person, not a department | Named owners get chased less, oddly |
| [link] | One page that answers the common questions | Removes the wait entirely for maybe half of messages |
| [number] | A line that someone genuinely picks up | A dead number in an away message is worse than no number |
Testing yours before it goes live
Message your own business number from a phone that is not yours, at four moments: mid-morning on a weekday, 11pm, Sunday, and immediately after sending a second message. That last one catches the loop. Then read what came back as though you were annoyed, which is the state many people are in when they message a business.
Three checks on what arrives. Can you tell it is automatic? Does it tell you when a human appears? Is there one thing you can do right now instead of waiting? If the answer to any of those is no, the message needs another pass.
What to watch once it is running
Not a dashboard, just three numbers you can count by hand over a fortnight.
- •Messages that needed no human at all. If the away message plus a link resolved it, that is the auto reply working.
- •Messages where the customer asked again before you replied. A rising count here means your stated time is too optimistic.
- •The same question, repeatedly. Anything appearing more than about five times a week should stop being an auto reply and become an entry in your FAQ, with the auto reply pointing at it.
Answrii is built around that last move: turning the questions people keep asking into one structured, searchable set of answers you can link from a WhatsApp reply, so the auto reply is a signpost rather than a stall.
Frequently asked questions
What should my WhatsApp auto reply say?
Three things, in under forty words: that it is automatic, when a person will reply, and one link or number that answers the common questions without waiting. Everything else is decoration.
How do I set up an auto reply on WhatsApp Business?
In the WhatsApp Business app, the away message and greeting message live under business tools, and you set hours for when the away message fires. Quick replies are separate and you trigger them yourself with a shortcut while typing. On the Business Platform you build the same wording as approved templates instead.
Is an auto reply bad for customer service?
Only when it replaces a reply rather than bridging to one. An away message that gives a real time and a useful link improves the experience. One that says "we value your message" and nothing else damages it.
How long should a WhatsApp auto reply be?
Two to four short lines. WhatsApp is read on a phone, usually in a hurry, often in a preview notification. If the useful part is below the fold it may as well not be there.
Should the auto reply say it is automatic?
Yes. Either explicitly, or by being written so it is obviously generic. The alternative is a customer who thinks a person read their complaint and did nothing, which is a far worse impression than a machine that was honest.
Can an auto reply handle a complaint?
It can acknowledge one, which is worth doing within seconds. The wider question of how WhatsApp support should be run sits in the WhatsApp Business support guide. It cannot resolve one. The acknowledgement should name a person and a time, and that person should then actually appear.
Generate your FAQ page
Paste your product description and get a complete FAQ page - free, no sign-up.
Try Answrii free →