@Sandi Bo mentions trust. Wyndham's forced owners who rented out of business. Those owners had renters who trusted them. A large number of those renters are having to go through the various rental sites if they want to continue staying at the Wyndham resorts. Btw for those who don't know, Wyndham turns a large portion of their own rentals and the listings owners gave to Extra Holidays over to the various rental sites.
If I was asked about trusting the various rental sites this is how I would respond.
1. If this is an expensive stay and especially if you're also paying for flights and a rental car then purchase trip insurance!
2. If you don't have an email with the resort name, the dates, a confirmation number and your name on the reservation confirmation then you don't actually have a confirmed reservation in your name. Think about it. You have emails for flights, rental cars, show tickets, etc. that all have that.
3. Once you do have that email in two days call the resort to confirm that they see a reservation in your name.
4. Before you begin your drive to the resort or leave for the airport call again to make sure they still have a reservation in your name and write down the name of the person you spoke with.
There's always elements of risk in more than just our accommodations. The flight could get cancelled, the car could break down, the rental car company might not have a vehicle for us, the list goes on. Being smart about the companies you use and being well prepared is important but stuff can still happen. Sometimes it's just your turn to have something go wrong.