Well if everything is OK then chip replacement makes the most sense. But I will say that most of the time it isn't the chip.
If you are going to replace the chip I recommend cutting the old one off first. You need some small side cutters to do it. You don't have to be accurate or cut close to the board. Hell, if you have some big ones you can cut directly through the chip. Then touch the solder and pull each leg out with tweezers/needle nose. After that give each hole a spot of solder and then use solder wick to suck up the solder and you'll have holes that a new chip will easily go into.
It's not super easy, and some care is needed, but in general it's not too bad.