My phone has had 3 cent balance for well over a week now and I've been able to send and receive texts. occasionally it would not be able to for about an hour then again able to send and receive texts.
Anyone else come across this?

Wow, you're a loser.

Dude, just buy the lowest priced $25 refill card. Honestly, do you expect 7-11 to pay you to use your phone?

LoL, you guys are trying to blast him for using his phone for free, but i bet that most of you would also love to be able to use your phone for free too.. You'd prolly even be here posting/bragging about it.. Same as when the cashier at whatever-store doesn't ring in one of your items in the cart, do you go back and say "you didn't charge me"? no, you go tell all your friends you got it free.. lol..

Will, Enjoy the free texting while it lasts, just be ready to accept paying for them with your next refill.. I'm not saying it WILL happen, but just be ready if it does, and don't come here posting how you got screwed on your $25 refill only giving you $10 of airtime, or whatever…
I've heard of times where other companies have let prepaid users access stuff with $0 balance, then when they add more airtime it gets taken from that (as if the acct went to negative balance).

Here's a free tip for Will:

The next time it rains, place your phone into a waterproof bag and bring it outside. Now open your mouth and tilt your face until you can feel the rain splashing against it. Don't move for a few minutes until your mouth is full of rainwater, then close your mouth and swallow. Congrats, you've just saved money on expensive bottled water! I can only vouch that this works in Vancouver, I look forward to hearing back from people in other parts of the country.