First of all - Hi Dreu and welcome to TER! Great to see you here!
Speaking only for myself, I have never TOFTT, because that involves way too much risk. For those of us that require discretion in our hobbying, just being here is really enough risk. So I've never gone with a provider who wasn't well reviewed.
While the reviews aren't always very realistic, enough reviews can give you a feel for what someone is like. And if they post here, you can get an even better sense of what they're about. Obviously, the more you know about someone, the less likely you are to make a mistake or get in trouble.
When I started hobbying, I did see a wide variety of providers, but now that I'm a little older, I have a much better sense of what kinds of things I'm looking for and I seem to have identified one provider in each city that I'm in regularly that I love to see, so I very rarely see anyone new these days.
It's also not so much about what kinds of services are offered (at least, not for me), but about what kind of connection I feel I have made with that person. The main reason I love to see you so much is not so much what services you offer, but how we seem to make a good connection and I always feel very at ease and cared for with you