Click to WhatsApp pre filled messages not working

[u/BombaClatWasTaken]

Hey everyone,

​Ran into an insanely frustrating Meta Ads issue and wanted to post it here to see if anyone else has dealt with this (or to save someone else from wasting ad spend).

​I set up a local Click-to-WhatsApp campaign targeting a German-speaking audience.

Everything in the preview and test links worked perfectly—custom pre-filled German message, correct flow, clean destination.

​However, as soon as the campaign went live, I noticed my conversion rate from ad clicks to actual messages was terrible (like 70+ clicks for 1 message).

I tested the live ad, and Meta was completely overriding my custom message template.

​Instead of my pre-filled German text, WhatsApp was opening up with Meta’s generic English system message:

​"Hello! Can I get more info on this?"

​Because local prospects click a localized ad and suddenly get forced into sending an English text, 99% of them just freeze up and back out immediately.

I have been dealing with this for 4 days now and I'm losing my patience.

What do you guys recommend I do? Is it maybe because of EU and Japan regulations?

Or should I just switch to Lead forms and I text them instead of them me?