when we plug in the charger we are never careful to see where we are sticking it through, the same happens when we disconnected, we just pull the charger never carefully doing so. this causes the receptacle to get loose and sometimes the silicon or inner parts get detach, since the inner components of a cellphone are lightweight and made of assemblies parts, it is normal, the other thing is that the lifespan of a cellphone is 6 months, that's why insurance is always the best option. for now it may be the charger and iPhone 3 uses the macro universal charger, so you can find a place where they can have it replaced or call your insurance carrier, and i'm guessing you have ASSURION for that phone your deductible should be ls than $100 so i recommend you to upgrade, it has been proven that when you send your device to be serviced the technicians have the habit of always causing more damage,,