Web Creators-Scam or Not

Good afternoon! As I am sitting here trying to navigate my way around creating a website, I find myself in unchartered territory. I have had two vacation rentals before and always used VRBO for bookings, but their fees for both the traveler and the owner are getting out of hand. I decided to get a website. My first attempt was a company that came up on my browser first site-wow, I thought they must be good. When I was unsure and thinking about browsing some more- a chat live came up. After talking for a while, they came up with a price I could live with. Now, I am no spring chicken and asking me to pay for the whole project without a contract or references made me uneasy. After I told them I was going to check with the sites they told me they created, the man was very angry with me. Back to the drawing board and hours of research. I decided to give this Wix a try. I am working on it, but there are so many things that I am not tech savvy with. Bear with me though, we will get this thing figured out and then I can get on with the thing I am good at-hospitality for guests!