I live in California and hired a company (all correspondence was done
online)in India to create a website, set up and host a domain, set up
Paypal on the site and get me within the top 10 of search engines (for
my dba company)-I paid $600 by wire transfer.   We hadn't gotten to a
website  that I liked yet (they sent me some samples) and had nothing
therefore in the other factors done( like paypal, etc), -when the guy
working on it had surgery and referred me to someone else in the
office.

 She does not respond to any of my emails and neither does he at this
point. I have a copy of the wire transfer I sent and an email from
them that they
received it.  Is there anything I can do legally to protect myself if
they disappear on me, as they seem to be doing? I have their phone
number in India, but would like to know if I'm completely at their
mercy before trying to call them.

Sorry to hear of your experience but I guess that's a risk that you
took by (presumably) having paid up front.

The man who designs my websites lives just round the corner but he
always insists on 50% upfront and 50% on completion. He also spells
out precisely what he is going to deliver and when.

He also charges a lot more but I've always felt that he is worth it.