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I'd be willing to bet the problem is the colour management. Typically printers manage their own colours, so no matter how you adjust the image it will do its own re-adjustments anyway.
You need to use software that will allow you to control the colour management and tell the printer to keep its grubby mits off your pixels! Photoshop has the option to allow photoshop to manage the colours from its print dialog.
Then you have the problems of what colour space are you using and monitor/printer calibration. Printers tend to prefer the official inks and papers of the manufacturer and using third party inks will need your own calibration of them. Quality papers are a little better in that you can sometimes download the paper profiles from the manufacturers.
Then there is the light you are looking at the print under...a print is reflective of light while a monitor is transmissive and the colours will be different. If you take your print outside under full sunlight you will probably see the tail you can't see indoors. Then you have to deal with ink fade over time (whether its exposed to light or not).
I do large format photo prints as well, and getting colours, tones, contrast working properly is a very tricky (and expensive) task. For the average Joe the best advice is to find a professional printer, ideally local so you can get to know them and discuss your needs. Getting reliable and consistent prints is essential for any decent professional printer and its not something general consumers will get out of the box with their own printers. Getting a professional print costs more than doing it yourself or at a local department store, but you're paying for a quality job by someone who takes care of the colour space you provide your images in and colour balancing them properly (unless you advise them not to).
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