Instead of escrow, why not use multisignature? Its easy to do on blockchain.info:
https://blockchain.info/wallet/escrowNo risk of the escrow party running off with the money, losing his laptop or getting killed in a carcrash. You just need an independent third party to sign, and if all goes well, he doesnt have to do anything.
We can certainly do that. But what happens if the Bitcoin goes down by the time we can cash it out?
You are screwed then. Or you get lucky if it goes up. Either way, that is no different than with other bitcoin escrow services, using multisig just eliminates the risk (and potentially, cost) of using an escrow agent.
If you would like escrow transactions that are protected against BTC price swings, thats something you should talk about with bitpay. It could be an interesting service for them, but Im not aware of them offering that yet.