And if not what do you guys find to be the most reliable and easy to use escrow service?
As mentioned above forum escrow is the most reliable because the held thousand of dollars worth in Bitcoin.
You can refer this link to a list of escrow services here,
Recommended bitcointalk escrow services or
Few Trusted Escrow Provider. But I suggest you research first their past transactions.
Be careful about using telegram because that messaging platform is easy to fake and might easy to manipulate. You don't know if maybe you are talking with one the same person that has many accounts. Don't let you are one of their next victims.