The best ways to solve your new holiday tech problems

We all love giving and receiving tech gifts for the holidays, because tech is fun. When it works, it’s like magic. When it doesn’t work, it’s the most maddening thing in the entire world. 

Maybe your new MacBook isn’t powering up or your new Chromecast is, well, being a Chromecast. One minor blessing about the world we live in, though, is that confusing or malfunctioning holiday gifts don’t have to ruin your life. There are tons of resources out there for people who need a little extra help to get their new toys up and running.

However, these solutions aren’t perfect and can be costly. Exhausting all your options first is important, just to make sure you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars for assistance. If you’re having trouble with a new holiday gadget, here are some of the steps you should take.

The help is coming from inside the house

If the Fast & Furious film series has taught me anything, it’s that nothing is more important than family. This may seem obvious, but it needs to be said anyway: If you’re having a tough time with a new laptop, tablet, phone, or anything else, ask the most tech-savvy people in your family for help first, if that’s an option.

Seriously, that’s one of the many nice things about being with them during the holidays for those who have that privilege. Chances are you know someone, perhaps even the person who got the gift for you, who can help you solve whatever problem you’re having.

Again, you probably already thought to do this. But just in case you didn’t, turn on your millennial radar, find a way to separate their eyes from their phones, and make them help you out. You deserve it.

Always be thorough

If you’re alone or nobody around you can help, that’s fine! The world isn’t always perfect, but we, as a people, try our best to patch holes when they open up. There are ways to find help that don’t involve personally knowing an expert.

First things first, make sure you pore over the owner’s manual from front to back. Read it in the other languages, too, if you have to. It might not help, but you may learn something along the way. Owner’s manuals may seem like scraps that should be discarded immediately, but they can save your tech life.

What if your new toy doesn’t have a manual, or you lost it? Google “

manual.” Most companies will publish an online manual of some sort these days.

Maybe you’ve already gone through all available family members and instruction manuals at your disposal. If so, it’s time to start thinking locally. There is probably at least one IT shop in your town or city. If you’re lucky, the company that made the device has a store nearby where you can seek help directly from the source.

If not, third-party stores can work, but be careful. Be sure to Google the store’s name and find out if any other customers who were once in your position have left reviews. It only takes a few minutes to peruse customer reviews for red flags, such as long repair times, unfriendly staff, or overcharging. 

If none of these options work for you, that’s unfortunate. Thankfully, it’s not the end of the world, but you might have to spend a little money if you’ve gotten to this point without curing what ails you.

Time to pick up the phone

By now, we’ve gone over pretty much every option you have to solve your tech issue through real-life interactions with people. Maybe none of those worked for you. It’s time to break the full-time tech support service glass in case of emergency.

Before anything else, call the official support line for the company in question. It’s not always fun or especially efficient, but they should be able to tell you something.

Aside from that, there’s a seemingly endless amount of third-party services staffed with full-time tech experts who you can call up for remote help. Consumer Affairs has a handy collection of these, complete with user rankings and reviews. It might be smart to filter by “Best Rated” and go from there.

Image: Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images

Services like Tech to Us and Total Tech Care 360 can help fix your gadgets over the phone or via online chats. This is where you need to be extra careful, though. These services have high marks in customer reviews, but you’re looking at yearly payments of at least $200 in some cases for the full range of assistance they offer.

Best Buy’s Geek Squad is another big-name option you’ve probably heard of before. They can help you out over the phone, online, or in a store. Anecdotally speaking, I’ve heard mixed things about Geek Squad from different people over the years, but the option is there if you need it.

We understand the endless frustration that comes with tech sometimes. When something doesn’t work for mysterious reasons, it can make your blood boil. But if you just stay calm and evaluate your options to the fullest extent, you can find light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully, you’ll find it without paying too much.