My raycast doesn't flip

Well you "flip" the direction by scaling it by the local scale so the pretty obvious question is; is the local scaling change as you expect? Obviously this is Local scale and won't change if you're changing the scale of the parent.

Code (CSharp):

1. Gizmos.DrawLine(pickup.position, new Vector3(pickup.position.x + distance, pickup.position.y, pickup.position.z));

Also, your line draw isn't related to what you're doing in the raycast.

Code (CSharp):

1. Physics2D.queriesStartInColliders = false;

Why are you changing this per-frame? Just set it once and it'll stay like that.

 

The line you draw isn't the same as what you query.

This option can be set globally in the project settings.

Edit > Project Settings > Physics 2D > Queries Start In Colliders

https://gyazo.com/9178818a7ee033ccc0562836bb260443

 

Not sure why you're giving up. If you know your "localScale" is changing then ensure you draw the ray to match what you query. Something like:

Code (CSharp):

1. Gizmos.DrawLine(pickup.position, pickup.position + new Vector3(transform.localScale.x * distance, 0f, 0f));