Tom
Did you remove the old drive and try the SSD using the installer?
I removed the old drive, installed the new SSD, then booted off a Debian live dvd.
It never found the drive, so I may have killed it. I am twiddling my thumbs until I can leave the house, drive to my storage unit and find my USB/SATA external cable, drive to my church, get the laptop, bring it home, uninstall the SSD, then try it hanging off my main Linux laptop (or my Windows host ) just to see.
If either of those fail to see it, I’m afraid I toasted it. I don’t think that will qualify for a return.
BTW, my last four SSDs have been Samsung—no issues at all.
-Tom