DENNY’S bosses have hit back at “unforgiving” customers who have left negative feedback after visiting the diner’s newly-opened branch in Renfrewshire.

In a lengthy statement, Denny’s has maintained its grand opening “was never going to be easy” and that it “hasn’t been the smoothest.”

For those who complained about long waits for a table, the company suggested customers use its text service, allowing them to “go shopping or do other productive things until they are notified.”

The statement comes after it was reported how dozens of unhappy diners took to TripAdvisor to share their experience of the Renfrew branch.

READ MORE: Scotland's first Denny's Diner opens its doors in Renfrew

Denny’s Diner opened in intu Braehead in December at the former Toby Carvery site.

Of 80 reviews posted, over 70 per cent of them have been “poor’,” “terrible” or “average.”

A total of nearly 50 “terrible” reviews have been posted, with people describing it as “utterly disappointing” and “unbelievably poor.”

One user wrote that the service was so bad they expected the restaurant to be shut down.

Responding to the long list of complaints, a Denny’s spokeswoman said: “We have experienced an extremely busy opening in Denny’s Braehead, so we would just like to take this opportunity to say a few words about some negative feedback that we have had from some outlets online.

“Employing and training over 120 local people was never going to be easy, especially with the timescales we had to pull the Braehead opening together, so that we could satisfy the demand from our Scottish fans to have us open before Christmas. We successfully managed to do this and opened on December 10.

The Gazette:

Denny's was opened by Paisley and Renfrewshire North MP Gavin Newlands 

“The opening hasn’t been the smoothest, with wait times on opening week running into the three-hour mark for a table and an hour wait on food. Something that is accepted as the norm in some restaurants across the UK, but this isn’t something we would like for our Denny’s UK platform going forward. But this was the opening week and there have been improvements weekly.

“We do have an amazing text service that allows customers to be notified of when their table is ready and it’s interactive, so our hosts can make other arrangements if there is a delay on the customer end. But, most importantly, customers don’t have to wait inside the restaurant for their table - they can go shopping or do other productive things until they are notified.

“We are also aware of the customer feedback that has been posted online and through our social media, which mainly accounts for service, speed and waiting for a table. We know the expectations are to be perfect from the moment we open our doors on the day of opening and some customers are unforgiving for these issues, even on an opening week, or, in some instances, opening day. However, we are working very hard to overcome the teething problems of the opening four weeks and we are ending the fifth week with having many operational changes being made in order to get to the level that we should be.

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“We are delighted to see such positive feedback about the food and its quality, with 90 per cent of all the negative reviews commenting on how much they enjoyed the food. We love feeding people and this is fundamental to our brand. We are now working to ensure our guest experience matches the food quality. We currently have an around-the-clock support network, dedicated to ensuring your experience in Denny’s Braehead is where it should be.

“On behalf of all the Denny’s team, we would like to thank you for your custom, support and patience. We are very proud to be in Scotland and had a very warm welcome.”

This was originally reported in our sister title The Evening Times.