Good point Beagle, but perhaps our ATCO friends could confirm whether or not such an instance would be logged for the AOPA stats
In my view, they have not refused access to the Class D. What they are asking is for you to wait until they get back to you when they may or may not give access.
Of course, they may never get back to you, as happens to me often around the Solent area, so it becomes a de facto denial of service without ever having issued the refusal.