Was this the LED Scorpion or the incandescent version?
If incandescent, I think the battery drain issue was probably one of perception more than reality. There's nothing in that version of the light to make it drain faster over time. I remember when I got my first lithium-powered light, and I noticed the same thing. The batteries weren't draining faster, I just got more sensitive to the dimming of the light.
If it's the LED, I suspect the electronics have developed a fault. The LED Scorpion has a pretty darned good regulator circuit, and is not known for being a battery hog.
The other issues, however, are certainly valid. The incandescent Scorpion uses a bi-pin bulb, where the bulb is pushed into a socket. If the light is dropped, the inertia of the bulb causes it to pull out of the socket slightly - sometimes enough to affect the electrical contact, causing intermittent outages.
In both versions, the rear switch is not all that robust, and I've seen them fail. The aluminum body is not anodized, which means that it can develop a small amount of surface corrosion at the junction of the body and head. This leads to intermittent electrical contact, which would be consistent with that you're experiencing.
As a utility light, the Scorpion isn't bad. It's cheap, puts out a lot of light, and is generally durable enough for infrequent use. As a defensive tool, though, it's just not built for ultimate reliability. Good lights aren't cheap, sadly, and a decent reliable unit will easily cost double what the Scorpion does.
-=[ Grant ]=-
