Screen goes black.....I've tried everything!!! what's the problem???

Question

went to verizon store (which turned out to be a "reseller store"...more on that later) for my "new every two" upgrade.....guy told me about the new samsung fascinate....he even told me i would actually be the first person to buy one from him.......probably after a week after purchasing the phone, i noticed that my screen would on occasion go black, and i could not get it to "wake up".  the phone is still on.....when i touch the bottom icons, they light up white.....phone definitely still on.....phone can ring, and i can even answer it by sliding the puzzle piece in place (screen stays black, i just know where the piece is). 
i took it to the store where i purchased it....same guy who sold me the phone says it is almost definitely from some sort of app and i should try deleting all my apps.....i told him i had searched the internet looking for some answers, and there were a few known issues with samsung fascinate blank screens......he said to delete the apps and see what happens.  so like an idiot, i left hoping he would be correct.  well i deleted all my apps when i got home.....didn't make a difference....still had the same problem.
a day or two later, i was near a regular verizon retailer.....went to tech specialist.....as i was with him, the phone had the "black screen of death".....he was puzzled by it.....he looked it up on the computer and he told me that it was a "known issue" that verizon was aware of.  i then asked him if i could swap the phone for another phone as it was still within 30 days of my purchase.....he said he could not do that since i bought from a "reseller".....the official verizon stores would not honor the return of phones purchased from resellers and that i would have to go back through the reseller (this was frustrating news)  he told me all about official verizon stores vs. the reseller stores.....he told me that the official verizon stores always have service technicians.  i had assumed that since the store where i purchased the phone said verizon all over the front and even had verizon flags flying out front that it was a verizon store.....turns out it wasn't quite the same.  the verizon tech also said that even if i had purchased the phone from the official retailer, they would NOT swap it with a new fascinate since it was a known issue.  i would have to get something else.
after leaving the official verizon store, i went straight to the other store......told the salesman the whole story......he reset the phone for me.  as i'm on the way home after the fresh reset....guess what.....same problem.....black screen of death.
so here i am again......{word filter avoidance}
is wrong with my phone?  aside from the black screen, i really do like the phone, but at this point, i don't know what the problem is and my new phone is worthless.  i'm heading back to the reseller again (for the third time now) and i guess i'll try to get another phone......i really like the fantasy, but i have no faith in it. 
i have reset the phone 3 times now myself, i actually just did it the third time just before this post.  i reset the phone, and screen went black within just a few minutes....can't get it back.  phone is on.....i can hear a call and texts......what could the problem be?????  i've tried everything noah suggested.....charger in and out....remove battery.....i've done all that....1,000 times.  when the phone does actually wake up, it seems to be completely random as to when it happens.....there's NOTHING i can do to wake it up, and there's NOTHING i can do to stop it from crashing out.
PLEASE HELP!!!!  i've removed battery.....reset.....removed all apps.....put on and off of charger.....my next move is to smash this {word filter avoidance}
into about 5,000 pieces.
ps - i've had a verizon cell phone for 16 years....i've never had a problem like this with a brand new phone.  i hate to say it, but fascinate owners BEWARE.  i can say with 100% certainty that i did not damage this phone.....and i did download some apps, but not that many, and they were all very highly rated and recommended....this should not have happened.
and also, i'm sure there are some great resellers out there, but from what the official verizon guy told me, you are definitely better off buying directly from verizon. 

Answer 1

If you have not done a factory reset on the device, I recommend doing a complete  factory reset.  
Factory Reset  - Warning this will reset device back to original factory settings.
This method will not erase any MDN/MIN information
Turn off the phone 
Press Power + Volume Up/Down at the same time and hold until display will show a triage android screen 
Display will show: 
Reboot system Now 
Apply sdcard:update.zip 
Wipe Data/Factory Reset 
Wipe Cache Partition
Use VOL Down key to scroll down to "Wipe Data/Factory Reset", press home icon to select option and wipe device. 
Display shows "All user data will be wiped out", press VOLUME Up to continue or VOLUME Down to exit. 
Press Volume Up 
Press Home to select "Reset System Now" - device will reboot
If the problem persist I recommend having a store technician take a look at the device.
Copy and paste the link below into your browser's address bar for the store locator.  
http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/storelocator/index.jsp