Every other time I power down the device, either from the hardware button or in software, it hangs at the Verizon screen (the occurence is actually quite random).

The only way to get it to shut completely down is to remove the battery and let it boot back up, then power it off again.

Anyone else having this problem?

Nobody else having this issue?

I experience this on occassion, but not every time... you might want to see if you can swap it out.