There is not many alternatives, escrow.com is a Monday to Friday, 8-4 business with very slow response to emails. They can cost you a sale in this world of 24x7, 365 internet.
The problem with dnescrow or using sedo is that as a buyer you are alerting a potential seller to the aftermarket and stand a good chance they are overwhelmed by figures showing on these sites and withdraw from the sale.
What is needed is a stand alone escrow service that specializes in domains where no other domains are displayed or links back to an aftermarket site. I would pay a small premium for a 24x7, 365 specialized domain escrow service. I often wished dnescrow(afternic) would do this.