Okay, I'm probably the only one in the world who doesn't realize this but if your flashlight doesn't work when you get it, open the rear end of it and *shake out the batteries*. My batteries came encased in a semi-hard clear plastic wrap that was not immediately visible when I opened it the first time. I got new batteries and was going to put them in and THEN see if the flashlight worked, but when I actually shook the ones that came with it out--Voila!--I saw the plastic which was preventing them making contact. You have to take this off. There were no instructions saying this.