I can understand why some docs don't want to give referrals:
They don't know:
Who is in my plan (which is a moving target)
My willingness to drive 5 or 10 miles or whatever
The actual skill of the doctor other than reputation, word of mouth
The availability of that specialist for taking on a new case
etc.
And any time I've asked, these discussions add time to my appointment. Doc is ready to move to the next patient and now I want multiple names, and minutes more of their time, and half the people they give me aren't in my plan or aren't available for 12 weeks. It's so easy to figure things out online these days, it's almost a losing proposition for the PCP to spend that effort since I'm just gonna go google the Doc they recommend anyway.