Can I get my iphone repaired for free?

Question

I think there is a problem with my Iphone 3GS. I got it as a gift just over a week ago (not sure if it has had previous owners or not) but since I've had it, it seems to have a problem with charging. Now and again when I plug it in to charge it will come up saying 'charging accessory not supported' or something along those lines but I am using the official charger that came with the phone. I have swapped wires and tried multiple chargers but they all seem to have this problem. The phone was on the latest IOS software when I received it too.
It happens on/off and it could be fine for a few days and suddenly it will start doing it again. The phone vibrates as if it is about to start charging but on the second vibration the messages comes up. When the phone reaches 100% charge this messages also occurs and I've asked other Iphone users who have said that it is just my phone that does this. Is there a problem with the phone and can I get it repaired for free? as I believe I have not done anything to cause the problem and it is a fault with the phone itself.
I was told the phone was only a couple of months old so I thought it would still be under warranty but different websites seem to say different things when I type in my serial number.
Serial number: 810164783NP if anyone could tell me how old the phone is. Thanks.

Answer 1

You can tell from the serial number that your phone was manufactured in the 16th week of 2010 (3rd through 5th digit) and the Apple warranty is 1 year from the date of initial activation. Note that the warranty follows the phone.
However, in your case with the SN you provided, your phone is a 16GB black 3GS locked to O2 in the UK and was originally sold in the UK and has as the most recent activation date 6/15/2012.
Unfortunately, https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do shows that your warranty has expired.
I suspect that you are having a problem with the dock connector in the phone not making a consistently good contact. As others have mentioned, make sure that your connector is clean (no lint) perhaps by using a soft tooth brush. Since you are using Apple chargers and cables and have swapped cables then if cleaning the port doesn't work it would appear that your only option is to have the charger port replaced. Now, I'm assuming that the phone was never opened to replace a screen, battery or other repair because if it was there would be the possibility that a connector is loose or bad.