Hi,
That depends on where you bought it... Some stores have a 30 day return policy, but others have a lot longer...
Some will exchange a product for a longer period of time than they will refund your money.. The manufacturer should have at least a one year warranty on the SSD, but that could take awhile to get a replacement..
I would certainly check...
If you got the free upgrade from Windows to Windows 10, your machine is in fact Activated based on it's hardware ID... This normally doesn't apply to something like a HDD or SSD though... Mostly motherboard replacement..
Your machine should not be doing what it is doing whether it is activated or not.. Not being activated usually only effects stuff like Apps not working and similar... It does not effect hardware functioning...
Personally, I would not even use the Intel RapidStart, or even install it, unless it is required for some special feature to work...
Windows 10 has a built in feature that works better, called Fast Startup...