I met a man called Bob

[Bassim]

Are these sentences grammatically correct? Is it OK to use "once" in this sentence?

I met a man called Bob at the airport. He told me that once he was a successful businessman, but after his company went bankrupt, he is now working as a luggage handler.

 

[GoesStation]

He was once would be more natural word order, but it's not wrong as written.

 

[emsr2d2]

Are these sentences grammatically correct? Is it OK to use "once" in this sentence?

I met a man called Bob at the airport. He told me that [STRIKE]once[/STRIKE] he was once a successful businessman, but after his company went bankrupt, he [STRIKE]is now[/STRIKE] started working as a luggage handler.

It's usually a "baggage handler" in BrE.
You can't use the present continuous after "after". If you want to keep the present continuous, use "because" instead of "after".

 

[Tarheel]

Are these sentences grammatically correct? Is it OK to use "once" in this sentence?

I met a man called Bob at the airport. He told me that once he was a successful businessman, but after his company went bankrupt, he is now working as a luggage handler.

I think a man named Bob would be more natural. (Maybe they call him Bob, but that's not really his name.)

 

[emsr2d2]

Why do you think Bob isn't really his name? In BrE, it's much more common to use "a man/woman/girl/boy called XXX" than "a man/woman/girl/boy named XXX".

 

[Tdol]

Called works better for me too in BrE.