Membership Hold Policy #

Start here: a hold is probably not what you want #

Membership at The Joinery is continuous. It renews each month and runs until you cancel it. We built it that way on purpose — it keeps the shop full, keeps the community steady, and keeps billing simple for everyone.

Holds work against all three. Every hold has to be tracked by hand, restarted by hand, and reconciled against payments by hand. And while a hold is in place, it occupies a member slot that someone else would be paying for.

So if you are stepping away for a stretch — a busy season at work, a summer of travel, a remodel that is eating every weekend — cancel your membership and rejoin when you are ready. You can cancel yourself from your member account. There is no penalty, no rejoining fee, and your account, your safety course completion, and your shop access all come back when you return. For most people this is simpler and cheaper than a hold.

We think of membership as continual, not something to start and stop with the seasons. If you need the summer off, take it — just take it as a cancellation.

When a hold does make sense #

We keep holds available for the situations where cancelling is not a reasonable ask — where you fully intend to be back and simply cannot be here right now:

• Health — an illness, injury, or surgery that keeps you out of the shop
• Family — a family emergency or a caregiving responsibility
• Career — a deployment, a temporary relocation, or an extended work assignment

Hold terms #

• One hold per member, per year.
• Three months maximum.
• Approval required. Holds are reviewed individually — they are not granted automatically.
• A hold begins on your next renewal date. Partial months are not held, and months already paid are not refunded.

How to request one #

Email steven@thejoinery.club with what is going on and the dates you need. You will get a confirmation once it has been reviewed.

One ask: please do not cancel your card or dispute a charge in place of requesting a hold. That creates exactly the mess this policy exists to prevent, and it is much harder to unwind than a conversation.

Cancelling instead #

To cancel, use your member account. Full terms are in the Membership Agreement.