The rules of the deal, in plain sentences.

Who we are and what these terms cover

These terms are the agreement between you and Hoist Hub LLC (“we”, “us”), trading as Hoist Hub at Waterford, MI. They apply when you use this website, when you book a bay, and while you are on our premises.

Two other documents sit alongside these terms and form part of the same agreement: the safety briefing and waiver, which every person entering a bay signs, and the shop rules posted in the building. Where the waiver and these terms cover the same ground, the waiver wins.

What the service is — and what it is not

1. We rent you time in a bay with a two-post lift rated to 10,000 lbs, plus air, power, light, a standard tool set and the shared facilities. You do the work.
2. We are not a repair shop. We do not diagnose faults, advise on repairs, supervise your work, or certify anything. We are not a licensed motor vehicle repair facility and we do not hold ourselves out as one.
3. Nobody who works here will touch your vehicle except to set and clear the lift and to check your lift-point placement before the vehicle is raised. That check is a safety check on our equipment, not an inspection of your car and not advice.
4. Some work is not permitted anywhere on the premises: welding, painting or spraying, fuel-tank work, A/C refrigerant service, and running an engine while a vehicle is raised. We may add to that list, and will tell you if we do.
5. Anything you read on this site — safety notes, guidance about lift points, the FAQ — is general information about how our facility works. It is not advice about your specific vehicle or your specific repair.

Eligibility

1. You must be 18 or older to book a bay, to sign the waiver, and to operate a lift or any equipment. We may ask for photo ID at any time.
2. The booking must be in the name of the person who will be doing the work and who is responsible for the visit. You may work on someone else's vehicle with their permission, but the booking and the waiver both point at you.
3. Every additional person who enters a bay signs their own waiver before touching a vehicle, a tool or a control. People under 18 may be in the building with a parent or guardian, outside the bay lines, and may not go beneath a raised vehicle or use the tool wall.
4. You must be sober and unimpaired. We will end a visit on the spot, without refund, where impairment is suspected.

Booking, arrival and your time in the bay

1. You choose a duration first and then a start time, because we only show start times that genuinely fit the length you picked. Minimum booking is 2 hours; the longest single booking is 10 hours.
2. You do not choose a bay. All 4 lifts are identical and we allocate on the day, which is what lets us move you rather than cancel you when something overruns.
3. Bookings close 4 hours before the start time — the last few hours before a slot are ours to set the bay.
4. We leave 20 minutes between bookings for staging, lowering and sweeping up. Please arrive about ten minutes early so setting the arms does not eat into your hour.
5. Your booked time is your booked time. If the job is running long, tell us before the end — where a bay is free you can extend at the normal rate. A bay booked after you belongs to somebody else, and the vehicle comes down at the end of your slot either way.
6. We answer the vehicle screening questions with you honestly and expect the same in return. Getting a lowered car, an EV, or a heavy truck wrong wastes your visit and is a genuine safety issue.
7. You are responsible for your vehicle leaving the premises in a roadworthy condition. If we believe it is not safe to drive, we may require it to be towed at your expense.

Cancellation, changes and no-shows

Cancel more than 24 hours ahead and your $25 deposit is refunded in full. Inside 24 hours, or if you do not show, the deposit is kept — nothing else is ever charged.

Cancel or move, more than 24 hours ahead

Deposit refunded in full

Cancel inside 24 hours

Deposit is kept

No-show, or arriving with no usable time left

Deposit is kept

1. Rescheduling more than 24 hours ahead is free and unlimited, from the link in your confirmation email, without phoning anyone. The deposit simply moves to the new booking.
2. Inside the window, moving a booking is treated the same as cancelling it — the deposit is kept and a new booking, with a new deposit, is made. We would still rather you told us, because a bay we know about early usually gets filled.
3. If we cancel on you — equipment failure, a burst pipe, weather that closes the building — your deposit is refunded in full whatever the notice, and we will help you find the next slot that works.
4. If a lift fails or a bay becomes unusable during your visit, you are charged only for the time you actually had, and we will move you to another bay where we can.
5. The deposit is the only cancellation cost there is. We never bill the reserved time, and there is no separate fee.

Payment: a small deposit, the rest at the shop

1. A $25 deposit is taken when you book. It holds the bay and comes off your bill. The balance is paid at the shop when you are done, for the time you actually used.
2. Published rates apply, and they are on the pricing page in full: $50/hr, the same rate every day and every hour we are open, with a 2-hour minimum. Weekly and monthly rentals are charged at their published flat rate instead.
3. A booking that straddles a rate change is billed hour by hour at the rate in force for each part of it — not at whichever rate is highest.
4. At the end of the visit we bill the time you used, rounded to the nearest half hour, plus any add-ons you took and any extension you agreed to. You get an itemised receipt by email.
5. Damage to our equipment or premises caused by misuse, fluids left for disposal that were not paid for, and overnight storage where a vehicle is left beyond closing without arrangement are all payable at the shop. We show you the amount first.
6. If a payment fails we will contact you and try again. Unpaid balances may stop you booking again until they are settled.

Memberships: billing and cancellation

1. Memberships are month-to-month. There is no contract, no joining fee, and no minimum term. You are charged the plan price on the day you join and on the same day each month after that.
2. Included hours land in your account at the start of each billing month and expire at the end of it. They do not roll over, they do not have a cash value, and they are not refundable.
3. Once your included hours are spent, the rest of the month bills at the published hourly rate, the same one everybody pays.
4. Cancel anytime. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the month you have already paid for; we do not pro-rate part months, and we do not charge you again after that.
5. If you change plans, the new price and hour allowance start at your next billing date.
6. Memberships are personal to one named person. Sharing an account is grounds for cancelling it.
7. We will give at least 30 days' notice by email before changing a plan's price or what it includes, and you can cancel before the change takes effect.

Conduct and shop rules

1. Follow the safety briefing, the posted rules, and any instruction from staff immediately — especially an instruction to come out from under a vehicle or to stop work. Arguing with that instruction is not an option available to you.
2. Closed-toe shoes, always. No alcohol or cannabis on the premises. No smoking or vaping inside the building.
3. Clean up after yourself: fluids in the right drums, rubbish in the bin, tools back on the wall where you found them. A bay left in a state costs the next person their time, and we will bill for the clean-up.
4. Pets stay outside the bays. Photography of your own vehicle and your own work is fine; filming other customers or their vehicles is not.
5. We may end a visit and remove anyone from the premises for unsafe behaviour, impairment, abuse of staff or other customers, or repeated breaches of these rules. Time lost that way is not refunded, and we may decline future bookings.

Vehicles we cannot lift

1. Our lifts are rated to 10,000 lbs. We will not raise a vehicle we believe to be over that rating, or one whose lift points are too rotten or too damaged to take the load safely.
2. The screening questions when you book exist to catch this before you drive over. Answer them honestly — a flagged answer usually just means we get the right pads or adapters out in advance.
3. If your vehicle cannot be raised safely, the visit ends there and we refund the unused time in full. That is a judgement call made by staff, and it is final.

Liability

1. The waiver you sign before your first visit governs personal injury and the risks of working in the bays. This section covers everything else.
2. Your vehicle, your parts, your tools and your personal property are on the premises at your risk. We are not a bailee of them and we do not insure them.
3. We are not responsible for the quality, safety or outcome of work you perform, for parts you fit, or for a vehicle's condition after your visit. You are.
4. To the fullest extent permitted by Michigan law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss — including lost time, towing, rental cars, missed work, or the cost of having your job finished elsewhere.
5. Where we are found liable despite the above, our total liability for any visit is limited to the amount you paid us for that visit.
6. Nothing here limits liability for gross negligence, wilful misconduct, or anything else that cannot be limited under Michigan law.

Vehicles and property left behind

1. Vehicles leave at the end of your booking. If a job dies and the car cannot move, talk to us — overnight storage is a paid add-on and we would far rather sell you that than have an argument at closing time.
2. A vehicle left without arrangement is charged the overnight storage rate for each night it stays. After 14 days we will write to you at the address and email on file and may begin the process Michigan law allows for abandoned vehicles.
3. Tools, parts and personal items left behind are held for 30 days. Tell us what and when and we will look. After that we dispose of or donate them.
4. We do not take delivery of parts on your behalf unless we have agreed it in advance, and we are not responsible for parcels left at the door.

Changes to these terms

1. We may update these terms. The version in force for your booking is the one published when you booked, and the “last updated” date at the top of this page tells you when the current version was posted.
2. For material changes — anything affecting price, cancellation, or your liability — we will email anyone with an active membership or a future booking at least 30 days beforehand.
3. Rates, hours and add-on prices published elsewhere on this site are part of these terms. If they and this page ever disagree, the published rate at the time you booked applies.

Governing law, disputes and severability

1. These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Michigan. The courts of Oakland County, Michigan have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.
2. Before anyone files anything, email us. Nearly every dispute we can imagine is cheaper and faster to settle over the phone, and we would rather do that.
3. If a court finds any part of these terms unenforceable, that part is severed and the rest stays in force.
4. These terms, the waiver, and the posted shop rules are the entire agreement between us. Nothing said at the counter changes them.

What we collect

Everything in part two covers the same parties as part one — this website, the booking form, and your visit to the building.

1. Booking details: your name, email, mobile number, the date, time and length of your visit, and any add-ons.
2. Vehicle details: year, make and model, plus your answers to the safety screening questions. These go on the work order so the right pads and adapters are ready before you arrive.
3. Waiver records: the signed paper copy of the release, your emergency contact, and the date you signed. These are made at the counter, not online.
4. Payment details: handled by our payment processor. We hold a token, the card brand and the last four digits. We never receive or store the full card number or the security code.
5. Membership details: your plan, billing dates and the hours banked or used.
6. On the premises: video surveillance covering the bays and the entrances, for safety and security. Section 19 covers that on its own.
7. On this site: basic technical logs — IP address, browser, pages requested — kept for security and to keep the site working.
8. That is the entire list. We do not buy data about you from anyone, we do not enrich your record from third-party sources, and we do not ask for anything a booking does not need.

Why we collect it

1. To hold your bay, to let you find and change your own booking, and to bill you correctly at the end of the visit.
2. To send you the things a booking needs: a confirmation, a calendar file, and a reminder before your visit.
3. To set the lift safely for your specific vehicle, and to have a name and a phone number if something goes wrong.
4. To meet our record-keeping obligations, to handle an insurance claim, and to defend a legal claim if one is ever made.
5. We do not sell your data, we do not share it with data brokers, and we do not use it for advertising anywhere.
6. Marketing email is opt-in only, and every message has an unsubscribe link that works. Booking and safety messages are not marketing and are not optional while you have a live booking.

The booking form, and where it goes

1. Booking runs on Acuity Scheduling, a Squarespace product. The calendar you see on our booking page is theirs, embedded in our page, and the details you type go to them and to us — not to anybody else.
2. The form asks for three things beyond the appointment itself: your vehicle, your answers to the safety screening questions, and your emergency contact. Each one has a reason listed in section 15.
3. The form does not take your signature. The waiver is signed on paper at the counter, in person, on your first visit — nothing you do online signs it, and we hold no electronic signature from you.
4. Your card is entered on the payment step and goes straight to the processor. The $25 deposit is charged there; the balance is taken at the counter when you are done.
5. Confirmation and reminder emails are sent through the same scheduling system. Every one of them carries a link that lets you reschedule or cancel your own booking without phoning anyone.

Who else sees it

1. Acuity Scheduling (Squarespace), which runs our calendar, holds the booking record, and sends confirmations and reminders on our behalf.
2. Our payment processor, to vault your card and take payment. [processor to be named — owner to confirm before launch]
3. Our insurer and our attorney, if there is an incident or a claim.
4. Law enforcement or a court, where we are legally required to hand something over.
5. That is the whole list. Each of them gets only what they need to do that job, and none of them may use it for anything else. If the list ever grows, this section changes and the “last updated” date at the top moves.

Cookies and what your browser stores

1. This site uses no advertising cookies, no third-party trackers, no analytics pixels, and no cross-site profiling. There is no consent banner because there is nothing to consent to.
2. What it does use is your browser's own local storage, on your device, to remember a booking you have half-finished so a refresh does not throw it away, and to recognise you as a returning customer.
3. The embedded booking calendar sets its own cookies, which it needs to keep your session straight while you pick a time and pay. Those are Acuity's, they are covered by Squarespace's own privacy policy, and they are not advertising cookies.
4. Clearing your browser data clears everything we put there. Nothing of ours is readable by any other website.
5. If we ever add analytics, it will be a privacy-respecting product with no cross-site tracking, and this section will say so by name before it goes live.

Cameras on the premises

1. The bays and the entrances are covered by video surveillance. It is there because people work under raised vehicles in this building, and because footage is what answers the question honestly when something goes wrong.
2. There is no audio, there are no cameras in the restroom, and nobody sits watching a monitor. Recordings are looked at when there is a reason to look at them.
3. Footage is kept for 30 days and then overwritten, unless it is connected to an incident, an insurance claim or a legal matter — in which case the relevant footage is kept until that is closed.
4. Surveillance is a condition of being in the building and is not covered by the optional photo consent in the waiver. Those are two different things: one is security, the other is marketing, and you can say no to the second.

How long we keep it

Booking and payment records

7 years

Signed waivers

7 years

Waiver validity, before you re-sign

12 months

Video surveillance, no incident

30 days

Website technical logs

90 days

Marketing list, after you unsubscribe

Removed

Retention periods are set by tax and limitation rules rather than by preference. Where an incident or a claim is open, the records connected to it are kept until it is closed.

Your choices

1. Ask us for a copy of what we hold about you, and we will send it. Ask us to correct something wrong, and we will fix it.
2. Ask us to delete what we hold, and we will delete everything we are not legally required to keep. We will tell you plainly what has to stay and why.
3. Withdraw photo consent, or unsubscribe from marketing, at any time — one email is enough and no explanation is needed.
4. Email hoisthub_diygarage@yahoo.com and put “privacy” in the subject line. We aim to answer within a week. We will not treat you any differently for asking.
5. This site is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect data about anyone under 18. If you believe we have, email us and we will delete it.

Changes to the privacy part

1. We may update this policy. The “last updated” date at the top of this page tells you when the current version was posted, and it is the only place you need to look.
2. If we ever change what we collect, who we share it with, or how long we keep it, we will email anyone with an active membership or a future booking before the change takes effect.
3. We will never make a change that retroactively widens what we do with data you gave us under an earlier version of this policy.