STA TRAVEL REFUSES TO REFUND MONIES DUE

A friend and I had booked a trip with STA Travel to Bali, which was meant to take place in August. On 26th February, my friend emailed STA to cancel his trip due to his studies taking president over his holiday. On 4th March, I sent an email also requesting a cancellation of my trip due to planning a baby becoming a priority. Both of our emails were acknowledged on 5th March with banking details being requested to process the refund. My friend received his refund on 10th March and to date I have received nothing of the R13000 due to me. I emailed STA Travel on 13th March to follow up, with no response, as per the terms and conditions of the refund, it was supposed to take 2 weeks to process. On the 16th I resent my follow up email and was advised that they are backlogged with refunds due to the Corona Virus outbreak and that it will be processed as soon as possible. Since then I have sent numerous emails to follow up and was eventually told that my request has been sent to their global office to refund. Yesterday I received an email saying that my request for a refund has been declined and that they can only give me a credit for future travel. I find it appalling that when both my friend and I requested a refund, which was acknowledged on the same day, that he will be refunded in full and my refund has been declined. How does my request differ from his? Why is Covid-19 now being used as an excuse to not refund me when most airlines only stopped operations towards the end of March when a majority of the world went into lockdown. It’s shocking that a company like STA Travel is holding back on refunds to people who are in dire straights in the current economic climate. My contract was with STA and not airlines and hotels and surely a company like STA has insurance cover for these situations? As far as I’m concerned STA should be refunding me in full and taking up any refund issues with their suppliers. Who can I escalate this to as I’m considering taking it legal as STA is in breach of contract using Covid-19 as an excuse but picking and choosing who they refund in order to maintain their coffers.