Ideally, you want escrow to be a non-issue. I would have been happy with a very cheap escrow and low service, or an expensive escrow with great service. This one was about 50% more expensive (~$800-900 in my case) than an independent escrow due and didn't provide good service.
This non-independent escrow was forced onto me by the seller agent and in the excitement of having an accepted offer, I went along with it. This escrow is actually the seller broker, in my case, Keller Williams, and that led to several liability problems beyond paying several hundred extra. They didn't send me several legally required disclosures on time, they were slow to respond to emails and phone calls (taking more than a day or several emails for a response), they seemed understaffed (an escrow officer and an assistant) for the number of deals they're closing, they didn't seem organized when I went in to sign for my closing which slowed down the signing.
I highly recommend reading this booklet from CALBRE before you enter a contract since once you do, things are rushed and you have much more important things than escrow to deal with:
http://www.dre.ca.gov/files/pdf/Escrow_Info_Consumers.pdf
The gist of it is: have an independent escrow company negotiated before you have a signed offer with estimated fees in writing. A good escrow should be unnoticeable, whereas, a disorganized one can cause problems. Don't let the seller choose escrow whatever the buyer or seller agent tells you is customary. It's always legally the buyer's choice. Finally, if your purchase price is above ~$650k, you're better off hiring a competent real estate lawyer for a fee comparable to the escrow (~$2000) instead of using an escrow company since the real estate lawyer can act as escrow for you and you'll have an advocate with professional responsibility on your side.