Oh my god I just figured it out! I have a smart water valve from LinkTap (https://www.link-tap.com/) that I honestly forgot about and there is a little hub thing that it uses to communicate with the valves outside via some sort of RF signal. I unplugged that and suddenly the switch is working as designed!
So basically, interference was the issue. Still a strange failure mode but that was definitely the cause!
@Eric_Inovelli - Add this device to the Problems/Issues page of the 2N1 for future reference.
@kcarbone - After inclusion(s), do the switches seem to operate normally under zigbee or does it still cause interference? (Note: may take a bit to answer, but figured it’s worth monitoring for future).
There’s a lot of smoke but zigbee is also a lot more ‘complicated’ troubleshooting wise due to interference etc. Also presumably a significant number of orders that haven’t had issues so I know part of trouble is trying to identify if there are larger issues or if it’s environment specific and in either case what the workarounds are.
Definitely never intended as accusatory or implying that beta was perfect, it’s very much just down to these are new to us and I’m also waiting for mine to be delivered so trying to help where i can in the meantime and correlate data where things just seem ‘off’. In the vast majority of threads I’ve been involved with, the issues have ended up being resolved by some of the ‘common’ answers, validating wiring, channel interference, usb extension cable, etc.
@harjms Absolutely. I actually have to get back to my real job now (lol) but I will play with it later and let you know. As a quick aside, I wasn’t sure if the LinkTap hub was using a proprietary signal or something but it looks like it is using the zigbee standard: Wireless Watering System - LinkTap
So maybe the switch was auto-joining that hub but since it’s not compatible the switch just kinda gets stuck? So actually not “interference” per say but a false/failed join (if that makes any sense, just guessing).
@chack Agreed. For what it’s worth I don’t blame you folks and I can only imagine how hard it is to deploy and support a product line like this. I’m glad you do though because we need more stuff like this to complete with the bland, cloud-based junk out there! Appreciate all of the timely help. Keep up the great work!
(side note, I just hit the “too many posts for a new user limit”, maybe up the threshold a bit 
)
This makes me think that also Alexa devices might be interfering if they have zigbee capabilities.
The following Echo devices have built-in smart home hubs that seamlessly connect and control Zigbee smart devices:
Just popping in to say that 4 out of 10 of my 10-pack had this issue but pulling the air gap ended up getting them into pairing mode.
I had the same issue, but I had paired it once successfully with my SmartThings v3 hub. Then I had to reset and pair it again to get the Inovelli Edge driver to pick up the device. And not able to get it back into pairing mode.
I also have a LinkTap hub just 2 feet away from the switch, and an Aqara M2 hub even closer. But my ST hub was downstairs and not directly below it. Disconnecting both the LT and Aqara, then used the air gap and it went into pairing mode this time. Ran the pairing on the ST app but it never connected and the switch timed out.
What finally worked - brought the ST hub into the same room, airgapped again, and this time the pairing was successful after about a minute. And the parameters are showing up in the ST app. Moved the hub back into the original position - need to be near my ZWave locks - and the switch mostly works but some of the extra data is not correct - like Power consumption is way off - but other things work like setting the bar colors for on/off.
I have a lot of smart devices but I don’t have any other Zigbee mesh devices, just some battery powered Aqara temp sensors and contact sensors. As long as the basic dimmer functions remotely, I might live with it for now.
Just wanted to chime in to say that I had exactly the same issue as the OP with one of the two VZM31 that I just installed - wouldn’t join, couldn’t reset it - and I finally got it to behave when I unplugged my Rainforest Eagle electrical panel energy monitor (https://www.rainforestautomation.com/support/rfa-z109-eagle-support/). It communicates with the panel using Zigbee channel 11 and I use channel 20 for my Zigbee network, but it seems like having it on negatively affected one of my switches.