We totally get that it's concerning if a follower reaches out to you and says they never received your direct message. Before you panic, here's a quick list of things that might be going on:
Your follower's account is set to private. If you click through to their profile and you see the account is set to 'private' (see screenshot below), it means messages from you or any other creator won't appear in their messages inbox.
If their account is private, encourage them to go to their Instagram messages and check their requests. In many cases, your message can be found there, but they need to approve it before it can appear in their inbox.
Next, check Meta's status page. At GrocersList, we rely on Meta's Messenger API for Instagram. You can find the status of the API via this link: https://metastatus.com/ig-messenger.
If you see a warning sign with the language "some disruptions" or "major disruptions", it's possible Meta is having issues that will affect your ability to send direct messages regardless of whether you do it manually or via GrocersList or another provider.
Note that whenever possible we back-up your messages in a queue and send them out once Meta's API functionality is restored. So, your followers might experience a delay, but they still will receive the messages with a link as soon as possible.
Lastly, check GrocerList's status page. We often will send an email to all customers if there is an issue affecting our direct message sending capabilities, but you can always check this link for the most up-to-date information: status.grocerslist.com
Still experiencing issues? We're always here to help. Just reach out by clicking the chat icon in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen!